Durham County Cricket Club has announced its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2016 which include a loss of £1.2million.
The loss for 2016 is mainly due to a reduction of £1m in ECB one-off special payments to all Counties made in 2015 but not 2016 and through the substantial costs associated with hosting England’s Test Match against Sri Lanka in May 2016.
That fixture resulted in losses of around £50,000 for the club, compared to an £170,000 profit on the previous year’s ODI.
The results reflect the variable nature of cricket financing in England and Wales, which is demonstrated in the profit of £673,000 reported by the Club for the previous year.
Durham County Cricket Club is forecast to return to profit in 2016/17.
The financial challenges faced by the Club led Durham to negotiate a financial and organisational restructure with Key Shareholders, the ECB, Durham County Council and the North East LEP, resulting in a significant reduction of the Club’s debt burden, including agreement with Durham County Council to convert debt to redeemable preference shares which will see the Council’s capital returned within ten years.
The restructure also guarantees annual international cricket at Emirates Riverside, under a new revenue-share model with ECB that will significantly reduce the risk associated with staging international cricket.
Durham County Cricket Club, Chief Executive, David Harker said: “Following the concerns we raised as to the sustainability of the Clubs future cash flows, as noted in the 2015 audit report, the Club is now in a good position to move forward and we’re excited to look to the future.
“We have exceptional relationships with our existing sponsors and have added new partners to the Club this year.
“It’s testament to Durham fans and the whole of the North East that despite last year’s difficulties, our membership and ticket sales are up and we’re expecting a sell-out crowd for our International fixture that sees England and the West Indies play IT20 at Emirates Riverside in September.
“The Club’s new board members offer a strong mix of cricket and commercial experience which will help us develop the business even further.”