Throughout the 2015 international season we’re trying to quantify exactly how much it costs to attend England matches. Are tickets affordable? How widely do prices vary? And which venues offer the best value?
Host counties pay the ECB six- and seven-figure sums (although the precise figures are not disclosed) for the privilege of staging international fixtures. To merely break even, and before operational costs – never mind a profit – the counties must pass the ECB’s fee on to their paying spectators. This can only exert an inflationary pressure on ticket prices. Whether you watch England live, at the ground, or on TV via Sky Sports, the ECB will find a way to get your money.
During the winter I wrote to every venue staging an England international in 2015, asking them how many tickets were available, at which prices, for each day’s play. The crucial variable in the equation was the number of tickets in each price bracket – without which it was impossible to calculate an average price. Only Warwickshire, Durham and Glamorgan disclosed this information. For the other counties we will use a notional average, based on the assumption the stands are of equal size.
We’ve already looked at ticket prices for the New Zealand test and ODI series. Now to the Ashes. The following information was correct as of pre-season and takes into account neither booking fees, nor any discounts offered subsequently.
First test – SWALEC, Cardiff, Wednesday 8th – Sunday 12th July
Glamorgan divide their tickets into three price categories, with identical prices for each of days one to four.
Category A (4531 seats available per day): £85.
Category B (4441 seats available per day): £75.
Category C (6129 seats available per day): £62.
Because Glamorgan disclosed the exact number of seats available at each price, we can calculate a true average. The average price of an adult ticket to the Cardiff test is £72.72. All juniors tickets are £25. A family of four – two adults and two children aged fifteen or younger – would pay £195.44 for a day at the test.
Second test – Lord’s, Thursday 16th – Monday 20th July
The MCC sent me this table.
Members-only, and members’-guests-only, stands, such as Warner and Allen, have not been included. The table only comprises tickets on sale to the general public. And for ease of comparison, we’ll exclude the restricted-view seats from the analysis.
Of normal-view seats, prices range from £50 in the cheapest rows of Compton and Edrich, on day four, to an eye-watering £125 for the Upper Grand and Mound Stands on days one and two.
Although we don’t know in this instance how many tickets are on sale for which sum, we can calculate a notional average by assuming each price category comprises exactly the same number of seats. Using this methodology we can say that the average (normal-view) prices for the Lord’s Ashes test are:
Day one – £100.
Day two – £100.
Day three – £90.
Day four – £79.
Which provides an overall average adult ticket price of a whopping £92.25.
By contrast, tickets for under-sixteens are a surprisingly cheap £20. The family of four price is £224.50.
Third test – Edgbaston, Wednesday 29th July – Sunday 2nd Aug
Warwickshire have set aside five stands for which tickets are only available to members: the Tom Dollery Lounge, David Heath Suite, South Stand Lower, RES Wyatt, and Skyline. They did not disclose the capacity of the David Heath Suite, but excluding that, 7,916 of 23,042 seats are members-only, leaving 15,126, or 66% per cent, on public sale. Anyone can theoretically become a member, but for a fee – which varies according to membership level but starts at £75 (with concessions for juniors and seniors).
The prices of their public-sale tickets, for each of days one to four of the test, are as follows:
West Stand: £81 (capacity 3,670).
Eric Hollies: £81 (5,945).
Press Box: £81 (841).
Raglan: £81 (2,083).
Drayton Manor Family Stand: £66 (1,390).
Stanley Barnes: £71 (1,197).
Based on these figures, the average adult public ticket price for the Edgbaston test is £78.83.
Tickets for under-sixteens, available only in the West, Raglan and Drayton Manor stands, are all £31.
The family of four price is an average £219.66, but the club also offer a ticket package, for two adults and two children, for £151, in the Drayton Manor stand only.
Warwickshire sell tickets for disabled spectators at £71, and each one includes free entry for a carer.
The club says:
The vast majority of our Ashes tickets from the 2009 Test were £75 and a lot of considerations were made before settling at next year’s figures, including pricing from the grounds hosting a Test in 2013, staging fee and demand.
Fourth test, Trent Bridge – Thursday 6th – Monday 10th August
The price category breakdown, for each of the four days, is as follows:
Radcliffe Road: £85.
Hound Road: £85.
New Stand: £75.
Fox Road: £75.
William Clarke: £60.
The Radcliffe Road stand has three separate sections, all at the same price, and the Hound Road has two, also identically priced.
Using the same methodology as with Lord’s, the notional average ticket price for the Trent Bridge test is £79.36. Under-sixteen tickets are £20, but only £10 in the William Clarke stand. Nottinghamshire also offer, in that stand, an under-21s concession price of £20.
The notional family of four price is £198.72, although Nottinghamshire also provide this specific package, in the William Clarke stand only, for the much lower price of £130.
Fifth test, Kia Oval – Thursday 20th – Mon 24th Aug
Here is Surrey’s breakdown, stand-by-stand, for publicly-available tickets. The same prices apply for each of days one to four. The full listing is here.
Lower Bedser: £85
Upper Bedser: £95.
Laker: £85.
Lower Lock: £80.
Upper Lock: £95.
OCS Lower: (average by block) £81.94.
Peter May: £75.
The notional average price for an Oval Ashes test ticket is £85.28.
Under-sixteens’ prices are all exactly half the adults’ (average £42.64), and some are as expensive as £47.50 The family of four price is £255.84.
The bottom line
Let’s see how the grounds rank against each other. For adult ticket price, in descending order:
1. Lord’s – £92.25.
2. The Oval – £85.28.
3. Trent Bridge – £79.36.
4. Edgbaston – £78.83.
5. Cardiff – £72.72
Lord’s is nearly £20 more expensive, per ticket, than Cardiff – and ever dearer if you want to avoid the fourth day or if the cheaper seats are sold out. The Oval isn’t far behind. There is clear water between both London venues and the provinces. Is this because their costs are higher, because the ECB charge them more to host the game, or because Surrey and the MCC are greedier?
For children’s tickets, they rank like this:
1. The Oval – £42.64.
2. Edgbaston – £31.
3. Cardiff – £25.
4. = Lord’s and Trent Bridge – £20.
Surrey’s prices for under-sixteens are more than double those charged by Middlesex and Nottinghamshire – before you even take into account the latter’s £10 tickets, and their family bundle (also offered by Warwickshire).
The Oval aside, children’s entry to tests is cheaper than most of us would have guessed. But for an adult, whichever ground you choose, watching the Ashes live is an expensive business – and in London, extremely so. It costs more to attend the Ashes than to buy a ticket for the Premiership, see a West End show, or watch the average stadium gig.
The ECB and the counties will argue that because almost every day of the series is completely sold out, the prices must be affordable. But all this means is there enough people in Britain with the spare cash to fill the seats at those prices. It tells you nothing about the cricket fans and England supporters who won’t be going – and will never go – because they simply can’t afford it.
Great work on ticket prices. The problem is with this short sightedness is when Pakistan come here next year how many people will return?
I remember Edgabston 09 when play started at 5PM and only 30 overs were bowled. No refund. Would you pay £75 for a game against Pak, SL , Ind with that sort of service?
Those pesky market forces. Interestingly, you can buy a season ticket for all 3 NFL games at Wembley for approx £100. That’s obviously £33.33 per match.
With so much money in the game today, it’s all about the squeeze. Traditional football fans are now priced out of the game. It used to be a working class sport; now it’s a middle class sport (although this is something of a generalisation). It’s a shame it’s a similar pattern in cricket.
At the end of the day, I believe a discerning and intelligent audience will generally pay what they think something is worth – not necessarily whether they can afford it. I know a lot of people who are refusing to go to the rugby World Cup because ticket prices are a disgrace. Unfortunately however, it only takes a small percentage of people to act differently to fill what are essentially small stadiums (relative to the population interested in sport). This is especially the case in cricket as the grounds are so much smaller than Twickenham etc.
I doubt the money men care who is watching live, as long as enough people are. I’ll continue to vote with my feet. The Sky subscription to watch at home costs enough as it is.
Tickets are only part of it with travel costs etc but isn’t it about choices? How many people who would like to attend Tests take a holiday away? 5 days at the Test for £500 – £1000 for a family or a week at Costa Packet? Personally I won’t touch Sky and prefer to spend the money on watching live and rely on TMS – choice again. How can anyone compare 90 minutes football with 90 overs cricket and the former at club level and the latter at international?
Lord’s will sell out almost any Test. Some of them could be sold out twice. It’s worth considering what MCC does with its income – Chance to shine, the University programme, tours to emerging countries, young cricketers scheme etc. Two weeks ago it put out 22 sides on one day to play clubs and schools. It all has to be paid for. I’d rather trust the Club to do this than ECB!
Test fricket isn’t cheap but that doesn’t mean it isn’t value.
One thing that I am disappointed in is that there is no test at either Old Trafford or Headingly. It’s not right that Brum & Notts are the northern most grounds this time round.
I wonder if it is because of the cost of bidding to host, or something else? Either way it seems harsh to not ‘tour’ the whole country for the national game (esp as Yorks have provided so many players!)
It’s because the tests are essentially allocated on the basis of who can afford to bid the highest sums. Money is what matters, not what makes for the best series or widens geographical access.