Somerset chief warns of cash crisis over Ashes TV move
Somerset chief executive Richard Gould has warned that re-instating The Ashes as a sporting event which should be screened free on terrestrial television would see a number of county cricket clubs go out of business.
A government panel recommended last November that the famous old Test series should be returned to free-to-air TV once the current deal with satellite broadcaster SKY runs out in 2013.
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Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw is now set to hold a period of consultation before deciding whether the five-match series should be added to the 'A List' of sporting events from 2014 along with other 'crown jewels' like Wimbledon and the (football) World Cup.
The move is being challenged robustly by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the county clubs, who enjoy a large chunk of funding courtesy of SKY's four-year £300 million deal to screen the flagship event.
Gould said: "County cricket will lose finance. We will lose a large amount of the money that comes in from the ECB and some counties will go bust without a doubt.
"I believe that we (Somerset) are in a strong position financially compared to others, so I hope we wouldn't be one of them.
"The worse thing is that all the clubs will have to look for different funding routes. We really enjoy being a members owned club and the club is embedded in the community. If we lose the funding provided by screening The Ashes on pay-per-view television then that will be gone because we will have to look for other income streams.
"We will be beholden to other individuals in order to bank roll us so that we can compete and survive. This is a very short sighted decision by the government and I hope they fail."
Somerset chairman Andy Nash added: "The Ashes free on the BBC sounds attractive but losing our right to sell the Ashes would reduce the game's income by around £25 million a year.
This would be utterly ruinous to the game as a whole."
The ECB will present a dossier of evidence on March 5 listing the damaging effects any such move would have on the game. The government will then have 21 days to make a final decision on the matter.
7 Comments
by James, South West
Thursday, February 11 2010, 9:30PM
“If kids don't watch test or even county cricket on the telly the interest will in the game will diminish.
Sky money is a short term gain that will bring long term pain to the game in this country.”
by steve, Stoke
Thursday, February 11 2010, 12:45PM
“With respect to some of the others who have made comments I think that you are missing the bigger picture. The county clubs provide the cricket necessary to provide test match players and without the major grant they each receive from the TV monies via the ECB then there will be no test match cricket to watch at all on either sky or terrestrial TV. So if the TV money was significantly reduced then it would decimate the county game. Dont forget grassroots cricket would be adversly affected too. The guy from Somerset is spot on.”
by ben, bristol
Thursday, February 11 2010, 11:28AM
“good point Harry, if the coverage is as good as sky i would welcome it back on terrestrial tv.”
by Harry, Bristol
Thursday, February 11 2010, 11:21AM
“Ben
Don't forget though that it was Channel 4 that introduced much of the technology and innovation used in Sky's coverage (Hawkeye etc). The other thing is that things have changed with Digital TV and the free-to-air stations have more channels to use these days.”
by Cynthia, Long Ashton
Thursday, February 11 2010, 11:00AM
“A very selfish attitude by SOmerset.
basically they want to, in the short term, overpay their staff and players at the detriment to th efuture of the game.
how these people get jobs I do not know, it's all GREED GREED GREED”
by ben, bristol
Thursday, February 11 2010, 10:15AM
“whilst i kind of agree with you about not everyone having sky, they produce quality coverage miles better than terrestrial tv. Last time it was on channel 4 they stopped the cricket coverage to show the news.”
by Harry, Bristol
Thursday, February 11 2010, 9:44AM
“What a ridiculous attitude to take. Somerset and the ECB should look at the longer-term picture. If cricket is only shown on Sky then millions of children will never see games on TV and won't be interested in playing. If it is shown on free to air then you will get more interest and in the long run that will pay off for the counties. The only thing wrong is that they are only talking about the ashes not all home test matches.”