Commercial Director Ryan Duckett says the Little Mix concert was a huge success as the Club continues to grow its non-cricket revenue streams.
A sold out crowd saw the world’s biggest girl band perform at The 3aaa County Ground on Thursday 19 July.
In recent years, the Club has grown the number of non-cricket events held at the ground, including concerts, weddings, meetings, private events and the popular annual Fireworks & Fun Fair in November.
The growth of these events provides the Club with crucial additional revenue streams, as it looks to reduce its reliance on ECB and continue its investment on the field and in facilities at The 3aaa County Ground for all visitors.
Duckett said: “We have a clear strategy to reduce our reliance on ECB revenues and we can only do this by growing our non-cricket and conference and events business. The events business now makes up over £1.2million of sales and generates over £200,000 a year that is reinvested back into the business.
“After the success of the Elton John concert last year, which generated in the region of £100,000, it was important that we followed it up with another major event in 2018.
“We were delighted to secure Little Mix from the same promoter that brought us Elton John. We actually sold more general tickets this year, although hospitality revenues was down compared to last year due to the difference in target audience.
“The model for concerts at Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one where we have to balance risk with reward. It would not be responsible for us to speculate a future on an event at the mercy of ticket sales, weather or other factors, so we have developed at innovative venue hire model – one where we also share in the success of selling the tickets.
“Hospitality sales is a key element of the concerts revenue model, and Elton John was inevitably more popular for hospitality compared to the family audience of Little Mix.
“After the success of Elton John, it was really important that we had a concert in 2018, and our sales from Little Mix and the Evening of ABBA outdoor concert, which has now sold out, will ensure that we replace over 80% of the revenue that we generated from the concerts in 2017.
“In the last five years from 2012 to 2017, we have delivered a growth of 27% in our conference and events business thanks to the hard work of our off-field team. That has allowed us to reimbursed the additional £200,000 profit back into the business and also reinforce our cricket budget.
“Conversations have already begun about potential concerts for 2019. It’s always a challenge given the fixtures are not known until November, but we now have a track record of successfully delivering major events and are confident we can attract more acts to Derby.
“As the revenue sources such as ECB and sponsorship change, having a successful and profitable events business is critical for the Club and will provide short, medium and long-term financial sustainability.”
Vitality Blast is back! Derbyshire Falcons are back at home on Wednesday 8 August against Northants Steelbacks. Purchase your tickets in advance and save from £4. Buy online or call 01332 388 101.
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