Cricket Ireland asks: Howzat for a rise in revenues?

Ireland's elevation to test status this year will help to boost Cricket Ireland's revenues by about 50 per cent to €9.3 million, its chief executive has told The Irish Times.

Ireland will play its first cricket test match against Pakistan in Malahide, Co Dublin, with the five-day game beginning on May 11th. The International Cricket Council awarded Ireland test status last year.

In an interview with the Inside Business podcast, Warren Deutrom said Cricket Ireland expects to generate about €580,000 in ticketing and match hospitality revenue this year, and €1.8 million in broadcasting fees.

"We really have crossed a Rubicon in terms of the amount of revenue we're generating from broadcast," he said. "We've engaged an overseas agency called Pitch International, who work with a number of the overseas boards: New Zealand, England, Australia. They know the market very well and engage with all the broadcasters, and that's put us onto an entirely new level in terms of our ability to sweat the asset."

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Revenues

Cricket Ireland earned total revenues of €6.2 million last year. Accounts filed for 2016 show it achieved €334,791 and broadcasting fees of €272,498. When Mr Deutrom joined the association in 2006 its total annual revenues were €260,000.

Mr Deutrom said a broadcaster for the Pakistan game would be announced by Cricket Ireland next week. To date, around 15,000 of the 31,000 tickets available for the five days of the test have been sold. “In terms of pre-sales, that’s better than we’ve ever done beforehand.”