Vitality Blast Continues to Deliver Record Breaking Sales

After England’s nation stopping victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup, ticket sales for the 2019 Vitality Blast have got off to a record start after the opening week of the competition.

Ticket sales at Emirates Old Trafford have received a daily boost of 300% since the historic events at Lord’s, with Lancashire now selling more than 1,000 tickets every day. At the Kia Oval, ticket sales have risen 88%, with Surrey selling over 2,000 tickets per day.

The first two Surrey home matches at the Kia Oval, against Middlesex and Glamorgan, have both sold out – whilst Lancashire delivered their largest ever crowd for a non Roses match, against Durham at Emirates Old Trafford on Sunday (21st July).

Overall, advance ticket sales for the seven Blast matches at Emirates Old Trafford have increased by 30% (from 38,448 to 50,005 year-on-year) ahead of the first game of the 2019 campaign. This builds on the momentum of last summer’s similar 30 per cent growth in attendances, illustrating the burgeoning demand for cricket in the North West, further exemplified by Yorkshire’s record breaking early sell out for tonight’s Roses match. Durham also welcomed a record attendance (outside of matches against Yorkshire) against Northamptonshire on Friday July 19th.

In London, the Blast got off to a perfect start at Lord’s on Thursday (18th July), with a sold out crowd packing out the Home of Cricket to watch Middlesex beat Essex, whilst the Kia Oval has also sold out both its opening two games, with Surrey’s clash with Glamorgan on Thursday (26th July), also sold out. In total over 75,000 Londoners will have watched the Vitality Blast in its opening week.

On Sunday, Emirates Old Trafford welcomed a 13,710 strong crowd for Lancashire Lightning’s victory over Durham. It was a record domestic attendance for a non-Roses clash in 16 years of playing in T20 cricket. The fixture was a celebration, in partnership with the local council’s Trafford Live day, a community event which saw local residents, supporters, Members, families and the region’s cricket clubs all celebrate a memorable few weeks of cricket with an expanded fan zone at Emirates Old Trafford.

Surrey’s London Derby with Middlesex sold out for a sixth consecutive year, becoming the Kia Oval’s first game to sell out on a Tuesday night. The ground has now sold out domestic T20 matches on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights – and tonight’s match with Glamorgan will also welcome a full house to Kennington.



Going forward, Lancashire are expecting to set a new record domestic crowd (outside of London and Finals Day) when they take on Roses rivals Yorkshire Vikings at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday 9th August. The Roses fixture, which has grown for the past four years, is expected to exceed the crowd for last year’s fixture at Emirates Old Trafford which saw 22,515 fans watch a thriller as Lancashire beat Yorkshire by one run off the final ball.



Alongside individual match ticket sales, there has also been a 48 per cent increase for Lancashire’s Vitality Blast Season Tickets - the best value option (from just £65) for witnessing all the action this summer – which entitles fans entry to all seven of Lancashire Lightning’s matches at Emirates Old Trafford.

Before a ball was bowled at the Kia Oval, Surrey had sold over 90,000 tickets, including more than 7,500 U16s tickets – many of them in the new Xbox Family Zone, which has already sold out its 1,000 capacity for every game. All tickets for U16s are priced at just £1 as Surrey continue their ‘Kids for a Quid’ policy that has been successful for many years. Overall, Kia Oval T20 ticket sales are up 18% year on year.

Lancashire Cricket Chief Executive, Daniel Gidney, said: “The Vitality Blast continues to be one of the most vibrant and entertaining competitions in the world. Tickets sales at Emirates Old Trafford increased by over 30 per cent last year and we are on course to grow that number further again this summer.

“Sunday’s match was a proud day for all involved with the Club. To achieve this record T20 attendance (13,710) is a phenomenal milestone, achieved through intelligent scheduling, thought-through ticket pricing and a co-ordinated marketing approach alongside Trafford Council and the wider game of cricket in the North West, including the All Stars Cricket programme, and it was great to see the ground so full, capped off by a fine performance on the field.





“The amount of families at the game was particularly pleasing. As a Club, we’re working hard to attract new audiences to the game of cricket, and we see the Vitality Blast as a great form of entertainment to achieve this. We've got six more home Vitality Blast matches this season and we hope to welcome them, and all the other first-timers through the All Stars Cricket initiative we had on Sunday, to another fixture at Emirates Old Trafford.”

Richard Gould, Surrey CCC Chief Executive, added: “The Vitality Blast has been a sell-out success at the Kia Oval for many years and it is wonderful to see that we’re still growing our ticket sales.

“Selling out our sixth consecutive London Derby – on a Tuesday night – is a significant landmark and for our new Xbox Family Zone to be sold out for every game a month before the end of the competition demonstrates how T20 cricket has the capacity to capture young peoples’ imaginations and start them on their journey to be a cricket fan.

“Looking at the spike in our sales figures since England’s incredible victory over New Zealand, winning the World Cup has clearly generated a huge interest in domestic T20 cricket and we have great confidence that anybody coming to a Kia Oval T20 for the first time will leave as a bigger cricket fan than when they came.”