Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Bloody hell!

This article is a year old but has some relevance


https://www.spearswms.com/the-ecbs-hoar ... ll-levels/

Don't sporting bodies insure themselves against this sort of stuff?

I doubt anyone can stop cricket going on in the event of the death of the head of state.

There's also WWIII to consider.

Aidan11 wrote:There's also WWIII to consider.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Don't sporting bodies insure themselves against this sort of stuff?

I doubt anyone can stop cricket going on in the event of the death of the head of state.

Not sure if they are insured considering if they are then BCCI would have been insured when WI pulled out.

Looked at it and it is pretty clear everything stops when the queen dies it will would affect 2 Test matches or a period of 12 days.


ECB and other teams Risk are always the same, don't piss off BCCI, Hope no games get called off because of terrorist or natural events.

ECB reserves are also at record levels of £73m - justified by fears that a Royal funeral could potentially cause heavy losses in a future summer - even though county debts caused primarily by ground expansion are more than twice that figure.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 15217.html

TBH it really sounds like ECB have responded to the counties claims of why the Reserves are high.
ECB are really clutching are straws to get a reason for the high reserve figure.

TBH if BCCI can write of WICB debt surely ECB got enough clout to persuade Sky and the other board effect to postpone the games to a later date.

it really sounds like this is ECB justification at the 70M reserve figure.

bhaveshgor wrote:
TBH it really sounds like ECB have responded to the counties claims of why the Reserves are high.
ECB are really clutching are straws to get a reason for the high reserve figure.

TBH if BCCI can write of WICB debt surely ECB got enough clout to persuade Sky and the other board effect to postpone the games to a later date.

it really sounds like this is ECB justification at the 70M reserve figure.

Hardly clutching at straws. For example, the Pakistan national team are hardly a stable cricket entity (they threatened to pull out of this years World T20). What happens if the England v Pakistan series is cut short because members of the Pakistan team are found cheating? Those £70 Million reserves will be useful to compensate broadcasting, sponsorship, hosting and match ticket obligations.

Another scenario, is what happens if the TV Broadcasters decide to pull the plug on it's Broadcasting partnership and it's replacement TV rights are a fraction of their previous value? This has happened in football with the collapse of ITV Digital and Setanta. Those reserves will come in handy to plug any financial shortfall and protect the professional side of English Cricket.

They don't need 70M though considering 30-40M is enough to cover for a rainy day.
For one ECB are insured if the broadcasting partnership fails and if anything they already got the money for this broadcast cycle so won't actually lose any money on it, the only issue would be finding a new tv partner but then again they do have BT sports so shouldn't be too difficult to find a tv partner.

Also the fact is WICB pullout of the india tour cost BCCI 34M pounds was 50M US dollars.
So you would think the value for an england home tour figure to be lower considering TV rights deals, Sponsorships, everything is lower than what an India series is worth.

So essentially a cancellation of a tour would be worth around what 20-30M pounds.
So why do ECB have 40-50M pound extra in the reserves at a time where all the counties are struggling financially.

Not all the counties are struggling, if anything county finances can be a bit difficult to unpick. Take us for example, we have a large debt on the books due to completely redeveloping the ground but we made a just under £800,000 profit last year. It would be superficial to say because we're in £13,000,000 of debt that we are struggling, but actually, there is no danger of us not making our payments in the future on it unless something truly bizarre happens.

Counties that are truly struggling tend to stem from historic mismanagement and biting off far more than they can chew. Yes some of that is down to the ECBs slightly exaggerated promotion of the profits netted from international cricket, but just handing Counties a load of money wouldn't solve the bigger issues that are underlying what is going on.

The ECB may have a large reserve, but if they handed that out as life-rafts then it would vanish pretty damn quick and the Counties would be back in the same position in a few years.

bhaveshgor wrote:They don't need 70M though considering 30-40M is enough to cover for a rainy day.
For one ECB are insured if the broadcasting partnership fails and if anything they already got the money for this broadcast cycle so won't actually lose any money on it, the only issue would be finding a new tv partner but then again they do have BT sports so shouldn't be too difficult to find a tv partner.

Also the fact is WICB pullout of the india tour cost BCCI 34M pounds was 50M US dollars.
So you would think the value for an england home tour figure to be lower considering TV rights deals, Sponsorships, everything is lower than what an India series is worth.

So essentially a cancellation of a tour would be worth around what 20-30M pounds.

So why do ECB have 40-50M pound extra in the reserves at a time where all the counties are struggling financially.

I beg to differ

BT are a relatively new player to broadcasting sports events and are bidding aggressively for rights. Their acid test is about to come as subscriptions begin to increase in price. Say come Summer 2019 the ECB sign a new four year broadcasting deal with BT (worth double than the current £70 Million per year), but the deal collapses after two years due to BT unable to fulfil their financial obligations, that leaves a substantial black hole in ECBs balance sheet. Even if the ECB manage to secure a replacement deal, it would be below market value and the £70+ Million reserves built up would be handily used to cover spending plans from the previous TV rights.

Numerous Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs had to restructure when they lost their lucrative TV rights. Given that all counties are heavily reliant on ECB payments (largely generated through TV money), the last thing the ECB want to see is counties going bust in the event of uncertainty.

Making_Splinters wrote:Not all the counties are struggling, if anything county finances can be a bit difficult to unpick. Take us for example, we have a large debt on the books due to completely redeveloping the ground but we made a just under £800,000 profit last year. It would be superficial to say because we're in £13,000,000 of debt that we are struggling, but actually, there is no danger of us not making our payments in the future on it unless something truly bizarre happens.

Counties that are truly struggling tend to stem from historic mismanagement and biting off far more than they can chew. Yes some of that is down to the ECBs slightly exaggerated promotion of the profits netted from international cricket, but just handing Counties a load of money wouldn't solve the bigger issues that are underlying what is going on.

The ECB may have a large reserve, but if they handed that out as life-rafts then it would vanish pretty damn quick and the Counties would be back in the same position in a few years.

M/S. Do Lancs still generate a lot of winter income from corporate hospitality overflow
from Man Utd?

westoelad wrote:

Making_Splinters wrote:Not all the counties are struggling, if anything county finances can be a bit difficult to unpick. Take us for example, we have a large debt on the books due to completely redeveloping the ground but we made a just under £800,000 profit last year. It would be superficial to say because we're in £13,000,000 of debt that we are struggling, but actually, there is no danger of us not making our payments in the future on it unless something truly bizarre happens.

Counties that are truly struggling tend to stem from historic mismanagement and biting off far more than they can chew. Yes some of that is down to the ECBs slightly exaggerated promotion of the profits netted from international cricket, but just handing Counties a load of money wouldn't solve the bigger issues that are underlying what is going on.

The ECB may have a large reserve, but if they handed that out as life-rafts then it would vanish pretty damn quick and the Counties would be back in the same position in a few years.

M/S. Do Lancs still generate a lot of winter income from corporate hospitality overflow
from Man Utd?

We do, but, I'm not sure how much it is. Our revenue will be slightly down this season as the Lodge is shutting but the new hotel will not be open until next year.

Making_Splinters wrote:Not all the counties are struggling, if anything county finances can be a bit difficult to unpick. Take us for example, we have a large debt on the books due to completely redeveloping the ground but we made a just under £800,000 profit last year. It would be superficial to say because we're in £13,000,000 of debt that we are struggling, but actually, there is no danger of us not making our payments in the future on it unless something truly bizarre happens.

Counties that are truly struggling tend to stem from historic mismanagement and biting off far more than they can chew. Yes some of that is down to the ECBs slightly exaggerated promotion of the profits netted from international cricket, but just handing Counties a load of money wouldn't solve the bigger issues that are underlying what is going on

The last year Old Trafford didnt host international cricket, they made a crippling loss of 4 million (2012). They made a similar profit after a summer with an ODI and Test (2013) , having 150,000 odd tickets sold over 6 days. After the ODI's limited to one a year since, they returned modest profits. It would appear that Lancs need international cricket to turn a modest profit, and at least a 5 day test with good sales to make a worthwhile one.

This is where I take offence at the "historic mismanagement argument" because in short, Lancs did exactly the same so no one club can climb on the high horses here. Teams that were in bad finances took risks to make profit and attract cricket that brought money in, and lots of teams did it. Those that didnt are also in bad positions. Those that were lucky and got a greater slice of the pie have possibly very similar models to those that have failed. Take Hampshire, who also ploughed money into a ground to get test cricket.... not sure I see the difference between what they have done and Lancs?

As a county supporter from a non test venue, its pretty galling to see what financial advantages it gives people. Hove gets good ticket sales for T20, but lowering club membership levels for the county championship. A city based franchise taking the only profitability away would no doubt lead to death.

I think sometimes criticisms of counties is a lot like criticising the agricultural techniques of farmers in the middle of a drought. There is no money to mismanage.

In fact, how do the ECB expect to generate profits for counties by taking away T20 from them? I know the Northants Chairman was talking at the start of the season saying they had 37,000 more ticket sales pre-season for T20 then this time the year before. He seemed to indicate the payment from the ECB to accept losing the T20 game to a city franchise would have to be very large, unrealistically large, for it to actually become agreeable.

The ECB are compromising the counties T20 receipts..... they have changed the 40,45 or 50 overs game so much no one really knows that the hell is going on..... and the test team swallows up the best players for 90% of the county championship. Put simply, how do we expect our counties to sell their product without a full hand?

I am not sure Premier League games would be fantastically attended should all international squad players be removed from week 3 to 37 of the season. Without a die hard commitment to a team, why would you go?

Take Sussex. If I choose to go to see them at the end of this season, chances are Wright might be in OD squad, Joyce will be in Dublin, Jordan will be resting in preparation for resting on another tour..... wheres the incentive for me to go to see them if they are missing all the players I would pay to see?

It always baffles me too how Sky buy the rights for a competition that they dont exercise. The ECB should be giving away county cricket to public tv just to get it in the public eye. Give people an option to watch it and get into it, its not like Sky are showing more than 1 or 2 games a year!!

Who gives a sh*t about tennis until its on free to air tv?