Talks over naming rights for Edgbaston stadium are set to re-commence after it was confirmed some of the most prestigious cricket matches on the globe are coming to Birmingham .
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced its match allocations for 2017 and 2019, which will see the World Cup, Ashes and ICC Champions Trophy all head to Edgbaston .
The West Indies will also be at Edgbaston for a Test in 2017 and India in 2018 before Australia in an Ashes return in 2019.
In all, there will be 28 days of major matches at the stadium over the three-year period.
Colin Povey, chief executive of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, told the Post the certainty offered by the fixtures was a major boost to the Edgbaston balance sheet – and strengthened its arm for naming rights talks in months to come.
“We bid for the ‘Gold A package’ and that is what we got,” he said.
“The global tournaments are the icing on the cake but you have got to be commanding England fixtures and we have got a Test match in each of the years.”
He added: “It takes out most of the unknown risk from the business plan.
“When we redeveloped the stadium, that was based on getting six or seven major matches a year and this takes us north of that window.”
Following this latest boost for all at Edgbaston, in early 2015 the club will bid for the ECB Major Match schedule in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons. An announcement about these years will follow in the spring.
That certainty over fixtures is a major asset that will boost commercial income at Edgbaston.
Mr Povey said it opened the door to some major sponsorship conversations – including naming rights to the stadium.
He said: “We have got the 2020 to 2022 fixtures to come and it sounds like that will be before the start of the domestic season but this gives us the ability to speak more aggressively to people about naming rights and sponsorship.
“Having got this we would be optimistic about 2020, 2021 and 2022. From my point of view, I would like to have all of these confirmed before I sign up a partner, but it certainly gives us something to talk about.
“I think it strengthens our hand all round in terms of major commercial partnerships.”
However, Mr Povey said greater income would not affect the way Warwickshire operated.
“We have always tried to do the right things for the long term health of the business,” he said.
“We have maintained the level of the squad but we have never been interested in bringing in a load of mercenaries.
“We believe in developing our own talent and getting people to buy into the Warwickshire way of doing things. We won’t change that approach.”
