NATWEST T20 BLAST

NatWest T20 Blast rises in the popularity charts

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Ticket sales for the NatWest T20 Blast have risen 64% in the past four years © Getty

A new YouGov Sports Index report has shown the popularity of the NatWest T20 Blast increased significantly in 2016.

One hundred people were asked each day which sports they had had negative or positive perceptions of during that day and the difference between the amount of positive and negative responses was used to create a 'buzz' score which then produced the ranking.

English domestic T20 cricket came seventh, the first time it has been in the top ten, just below the English Premier League football competition and above Test cricket and the FA Cup. The 2016 Summer Olympic Games came top of the rankings.

The report concludes: "Moving 14 places up the rankings to grab its Top 10 spot, Twenty20 Cricket is English cricket's 2016 success story, with efforts to re-position and market the game as an all-round entertainment spectacle seriously paying off and contributing to its much-improved buzz score."

Ticket sales for the Blast have risen 64% in the past four years and the move to regular Friday night games has helped in allowing spectators, including families, to plan and budget for the games. Improved marketing and use of social media has also contributed to an upturn of awareness. It remains to be seen, however, how this season's competition fares after the decision to move away from Friday nights in favour of playing the games in discreet blocks.

The recent success of the Blast has not prevented the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) pursuing a new eight team city-based T20 competition which would be played outside the 18 county system. If the plans are given the go ahead at a meeting later this month, the competition will begin in 2020. It would be the first time an ECB sanctioned competition did not contain all 18 first-class counties.

© Cricbuzz

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