Ker-ching: part four

Throughout the 2015 international season we’ve been researching the price of tickets for England matches. We approached each host county and asked them to tell us how many seats they were selling, for each match, in which price brackets.

Only Durham, Glamorgan, and Warwickshire, were prepared to disclose the exact number of tickets available for specific prices. For those grounds we were able to calculate the average ticket price. For the others, the best remaining option was to work out a notional average which assumes each stand has the same capacity.

Earlier in the season we reported that the average ticket price for the New Zealand tests was £51.63 (albeit with a £31.75 difference between Lord’s and Headingley); for the New Zealand ODIs was £48.91; and for the Ashes was £81.69.

In each series, the cost of attending cricket in London was considerably higher than in the provinces.
In the final instalment of our survey, we’ll look at the Australia ODIs, which start this afternoon. The following information was correct as of pre-season, and does not take into account either prices for county members nor discounts offered subsequently.
First ODI– Ageas Bowl, Hampshire, Thursday 3rd September
Hampshire responded to our request by directing us to the ticketing zone of their website. These pages did not disclose the full range of price options. All they enabled us to do was click on certain seats – as if we intended to purchase them – at which point the price was revealed. It was not feasible for us to conduct this process for every single seat in the ground – and at any rate, only the unsold ones were visible. Therefore we can say little about the Ageas tickets, save this brief information, on their site:

“Prices from £70.00 for Adults and £30.00 for Under 17s”.

For a family of four attending the match – two adults and two under-seventeens, the minimum price would be £200.

Second ODI – Lord’s, Saturday 5th September

The MCC told us that the prices for tickets in each stand are as follows:

Upper Grand Stand – £125.

Grand Stand – £110.

Upper Mound Stand – £125.

Mound Stand – £110.

Compton and Edrich Stands Upper – £110.

Compton and Edrich Stands Lower – two sections, £85 and £70 (average – £77.50).

If we assume that each stand has the same capacity, the average ticket price for the Lord’s ODI is £109.58.

The MCC also sell restricted view seats in all the above stands for £55 each. Seats in the Tavern, Allen and Warner stands are not on sale to the general public.

Tickets for under-sixteens are £20, which makes the average family-of-four price £259.16.

Third ODI – Old Trafford, Tuesday 8th September

Lancashire CCC were only prepared to direct us towards their ticketing website. From the limited information available there, the best I could deduce is that tickets are priced in the following categories:

1 – £68.

2 – £47.

They also have two small sections on sale for £41 and £129 but as these are likely to account only for a very small proportion of the tickets, I shall exclude them from the notional average, which is £57.50. However, it was almost certainly the case that ticket prices for any fully-sold stands were not visible, and it’s likely that a significant number of considerably more expensive tickets had been on sale previously.

Tickets for under-sixteens are available in price categories of £35 and £25, or an average of £30, making the family-of-four price £175. But Lancashire also offer packages in their family stand of “£45 for one adult and one junior (under 16) and £90 for two adults and two juniors (under 16)”.

Fourth ODI, Headingley – Friday 11th September  

Yorkshire CCC sent the following information.

Ticket categories:

A – £50

B – £60

C – £65

D – £70

E – £75

F – £80.

The notional average ticket price is £66.67. Tickets for juniors are £20 each, making the family of four price £173.34.

Fifth ODI – Old Trafford, Sunday 13th September

For this match, their website revealed too little information for any meaningful analysis to be possible.

The bottom line

This fourth instalment of our ticket survey  – the England v Australia ODI series – has been the most frustrating of the summer, as the two clubs hosting three of the five matches were not prepared to disclose any meaningful data about the prices. Given that the county clubs are in this context public bodies, who operate a monopoly, and that the matches are public events in which the public has equity, I believe they are morally obliged to be open and honest about what they charge spectators to attend.

Glamorgan, Durham and Warwickshire saw no problem in outlining to us their prices, in full detail, so our request can neither have been impossible nor unfair.

Realistically, the average prices at the Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford are likely to be around £85 for the former, and £65 for the latter.

One conclusion we can draw, though, is yet again the exorbitant premium imposed on London spectators. The average price at Lord’s – £109.58 – is very nearly double the £66.67 average at Headingley. Is this what the MCC truly mean by ‘the spirit of cricket’?

11 comments

  • This is why in 20 years of watching live cricket, I’ve never once bothered to go to an ODI. I wonder who the mugs are that do go?

  • As a kid I spent all of my summer holidays watching cricket and never missed a match of any significance. Not being able to afford the price of a game would have been a massive trauma to me. Being priced out of so much as a single day’s play would have never even occurred to me. It is so sad that it is not the same today.

    As far as London is concerned we pay more for everything because all our costs are higher, but at the same time that is also reflected in earnings. Not being any kind of accountant I wouldn’t know whether or not the huge difference in ticket prices is justified. I simply have to say it is a sorry state of affairs all round.

    Thanks for your work on this Maxie.

  • They stand up pretty well to Football, Concert and Theatre Tickets in London I imagine?

    More regionally you can purchase a ticket to watch Championship strugglers Nottingham Forest for 90 minutes at £36.00 or watch a day of test cricket at Trent Bridge for £46.00.

    The conclusion; London is expeno!

  • I wrote to Giles Clarke about this and he said “next question”

    Until those who support the game make a lot more noise – go to war – with the ECB then absolutely nothing’s gonna change

  • In part five, do you speak to Graeme Swann, who reassures you that prices are £20 across the board?

  • I bought my Ageas Bowl tickets as a member last October. Mine was £32 and the ticket for my guest was £40. Think all tickets before the new year for general sale were around £50 to £60.

  • Just returned from the Ageas bowl having paid £70 for my ticket. Fortunately, in a household of girls, I don’t have to buy anymore, but the cost doesn’t finish there. Train journey from Basingstoke (not far) £17.10. Pint of pish £4.40 (multiply by the number of pints consumed), Hampshire, along with most ECB stadiums do not permit you to bring your own alcohol, why would they? Food….well you can bring your own, but who does? £5.50 for a cardboard burger or £7.00 for a beef burrito with nachos. All in all yesterday I spent about £120 on the day. I live 30 miles from the place !

    I don’t think I will bother next year when we take on Sri Lanka in an ODI.

  • Anyone that goes to England games are mugs, however those that go do not care becaus they can afford it. Nothing will change so for gods sake either everyone should shut up or,actually do,something about it.

    Oh wait, no one will because it’s all about the cash at the end of the day.

  • “The average price at Lord’s – £109.58 – is very nearly double the £66.67 average at Headingley. Is this what the MCC truly mean by ‘the spirit of cricket’?”

    I’d treat Lords differently. I reckon they’d sell their tickets for £150.
    I know we don’t want elite’s but there always will be in that part of the world

    I would say £67 at Headingley in the second week of September is a ridiculous price, be very interesting to see the turnout.

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