CRICKET: THOUSANDS of cricket fans have snapped up tickets for this weekend’s Natwest T20 Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston, which is now a record sell out.
Warwickshire County Cricket Club boosted the capacity at Edgbaston by 850 seats for its bumper programme of major match days in 2017.
And work with Arena Seating has paid off with ticket sales reaching 24,426 ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day is the biggest day in the domestic cricket calendar and we’re thrilled to secure record ticket sales for this year’s event.
“Saturday will be the ninth time that Finals Day has been staged at Edgbaston and this year is extra special thanks to Birmingham Bears qualifying for the third time in four seasons.”
The boom in T20 Finals Day ticket sales is supported by additional sales in Birmingham Bears’ road to Saturday’s event.
Warwickshire welcomed 61,678 people through its gates for six T20 Blast group stage games, with the average home attendance up 18 per cent from last season.
The Bears also set a record attendance, for a T20 group game at Edgbaston, of 15,113 for the local derby against Worcestershire Rapids on August 4.
Neil added: “During the close season, the club recruited Emma Windsor as T20 Project Manager and her knowledge and expertise from working with the NFL and NBA has been paramount to this year’s off-field success, and reaching a younger audience.
“Encouraging more children to follow and play cricket is a key focus for the club and, in 2017, we developed our new Kids Zone area with giant inflatables and activities.
“We also worked closely with our partners Drayton Manor and Motorpoint to put cricket coaching and interactive photo opportunities around the stadium.”
This Saturday’s main event gets underway at Edgbaston from 11am on Saturday as Birmingham take on Glamorgon before semi final two is followed by the grand final at 6.45pm.
