It seems like most Saturdays these days there is no cricket. Given that Saturday is one of the two days a week most people can watch sports without taking time off work or beinmg on holidays, this doesn't seem a very smart business decision by the ECB. It's not even soccer season. Is it just me, or is there something wonky about the schedule these days?
Contrary to some opinion,attendances at county cricket on Saturdays and Sundays are poor compared with the rest of the week.
Most have other things to do,which is why it's not an issue with The ECB.
The biggest income source at county cricket is from corporate hospitality,compamy sponsorship and direct advertising,which are only possible on weekdays.
Revenue through the turnstiles is minimal for championship matches and even less at weekends,some counties do not even charge last day admission as it's not worth employing the staff.
Far better to concentrate one day matches at weekends,and leave the Chmpionship during the week,wher 75% of attendees are past pension age,and apart from their membership fee,contribute nothing to the county's revenue stream.
The reason that attendances and revenue at week-ends are poor is that the ECB put absolutley no effort into marketing the county championship. With proper and effective marketing the target audience has to be at week-ends when the bulk of the population is free to attend matches. As the original poster infers the fact that there are few CC matches at week-ends and many only the third or final day is the reason why under the current ECB regime the financial performance of the CC on week-ends is so poor. Can you imagine the football league organising all its games main games for Thursday afternoons.
No, the ECB is guilty of consistently ignoring the CC in favour of what it considers short term goals. In the long term the CC will unfortunately wither on the vine and the bedrock of the game disappear.
I for one strongly advocate a return to CC at week-ends when fathers can introduce sons, when the few working people in the population can enjoy some relaxation time, and when we all know on what day of the week CC matches actually start.
The current scenario is a total mess generated by the ECB which does not withstand any close scrutiny. How does the ECB justify this lamentable situation?
Saturdays are now poorly attended ... the resaon is simple .. a lot of 'regulars' go off & watch league teams ... in the days of 3 day cricket this didn't matter as many 'casuals' used to attend. This was in the day when matches used to start on Saturdays or Wednesdays so it wasworth checking it 'your' team was at home. Now only 'addicts' have any idea if/when a team is playing so the 'casual' county cricket watcher is long gone