Glamorgan count six-figure cost of T20

By Richard Thomas

Glamorgan have estimated that their rain-hit Friends Life t20 campaign will have cost them a potential six-figure loss. Constant bad weather wreaked havoc on their Twenty20 season, with Glamorgan the worst-hit of all 18 teams, losing five of their 10 matches to rain. Crucially, three of those wash-outs were home games.

Not only did it mean that Glamorgan, or the Welsh Dragons as they were known in the competition, failed to reach the quarter-finals – something they had targeted -  but they will also suffer a more damaging financial  knock-on effect.

“Cricket is effectively a tourism industry and, when it rains, you don’t play and the people don’t come,” said Glamorgan chief executive Alan Hamer..

“Cricket has been very badly affected by the rain. Over the past six weeks revenues have fallen well below budget because we haven’t been able to get games on.

“You don’t get ticket sales and, just as importantly, you lose out on secondary spends in the club shops and bars. I would suggest over a season, with this poor weather, you’re looking at a six-figure hit.”

There is insurance to fall back on to offset some of the loss to the bigger games but the cost of such policies is on the rise and are bound to get more expensive after the downpours this year.

“You can insure, and we have done so, but clearly there is a cost-benefit in terms of premiums. The effects going forward can also be substantial: for Twenty20 you can get a lot of casual customers and if their first experience is a bad one, they won’t come back. You can’t insure against that.

“Premiums have also increased significantly over the last couple of years - this isn’t the first season we’ve had bad weather – and heaven knows what they will be next year. It could cost a five-figure sum to insure one game.”


Date: 11/07/2012 11:11:23 by Richard Thomas
In: Today | Glamorgan |