Chief Executive, Simon Storey, says the Club has a real vision to grow it’s cricket audience through the growing number of events being held at the Club.
A £3.6million upgrade of The 3aaa County Ground has certainly paid dividends being able to become a host venue for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, a concert venue for Sir Elton John in June and with a packed domestic season for Derbyshire, the year ahead is certainly looking bright.
The 3aaa Pavilion has been transformed into modern 200-seater conference and events venue, ,while the Club has constructed a new £2million state-of-the-art OKI Business & Media Centre at the Racecourse End of the ground.
Speaking to the Derby Telegraph, Storey said: “We’re blessed at The 3aaa County Ground of being right at the heart of the city. We have a real vision that we can grow our cricket audience by growing the use of the venue for non-cricket events.
“We had over 10,000 people here for last year’s Fireworks Night & Fun Fair event, so we were able to reach out to a whole new audience in Derby.
“We were able to step in when the council made the difficult decision, because of the budget constraints, to cancel the Markeaton Park fireworks.
“We said there’s a brilliant role here to play. We can be a positive influence for good in the broader city and county. And if you do that, it will come and pay back in the long term, because new people will discover the cricket club, and they will come back in the summer to watch the cricket.”
Storey added: “We’re really ambitious in terms of our goals on the cricket pitch, but we know that on a Twenty20 night in the summer, a lot of people are there just to enjoy a really good night out. They’ll have a drink, they’ll be with friends and may even have a meal.
“They’re there for more than just cricket. That really drives us now, and as a result, our cricket budget is much stronger.”
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