First-class counties expecting minimum £74.5m losses due to coronavirus pandemic

The Cricketer can reveal county cricket is predicting the crisis to have left a multi-million black hole in the finances, with matchday revenue and other aspects of their business hit hard

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County cricket is predicting losses of at least £74.5 million due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Cricketer can reveal.

Next to no matchday income for the 18 first-class counties means expectations for the financial year have been radically scaled back.

All clubs who responded for a piece in the October issue of The Cricketer magazine are predicting to fall short of pre-season targets, with some suffering more than others.

Surrey and Lancashire, the two counties who did not use the government furlough scheme for their players, are the biggest suffers with the teams expecting to lose £30m and £20m respectively.

Sussex and Worcestershire did not speculate specifically on their predicted losses, but both confirmed the shortfall would reach "seven figures".

Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire did not provide figures.

As well as losing income from ticket sales and concessions, sponsorship, memberships and the conference and events side of the counties' business will also leave a hole on the balance sheet.

^{Cricket grounds have been desolate this summer}

The ECB provided two support packages totalling £96.7m to the professional and recreational game during the summer to assist with the deficit.

England men's entire summer schedule, three domestic competitions and a women's series with the West Indies were all played but the ECB themselves are counting the cost from a damaging summer.

They expect losses of £200m due to the pandemic, leading to 62 jobs being cut. England players are currently negotiating a reduction to their central contacts to assist.

The prospect of fans not having returned to sports grounds in time for the start of next season hangs ominously over the game. Just one competitive county match was played in front of spectators during the campaign – Surrey’s clash with Hampshire in the T20 Blast at the Kia Oval as part of the government’s pilot scheme - and a failure to build on that will ensure a difficult 2021 beckons.

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