There were huge crowds at the Australia-India Test series last summer, particularly at the MCG.Credit: Justin McManus
“We are thrilled with the record interest from fans. It’s going to be a compelling summer,” Morrison said.
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Tickets for the first three days of the Brisbane Test are sold out, while the first two days in Adelaide and Perth have also been snapped up, ensuring bumper revenue.
CA posted just under $400 million in revenue and other income for the home 2017-18 Ashes series, which boasted the second-highest overall Ashes attendance on record, while this increased to $422 million in 2023 when it also hosted the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. This fell to $404 million in 2024. Last summer’s figures, when Australia prevailed in the battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, are yet to be released.
Cricket’s governing body posted a $31.9 million loss for the 2023-24 season, its third-highest loss in the past decade, behind the $52 million loss of 2016-17 and $43 million in 2019-20. When announcing last year’s loss at the annual general meeting, CA chairman Mike Baird said he hoped last summer’s series against India, and the impending Ashes campaign, would be a major budget boost, leaving CA with more than $70 million in cash reserves.
Officials hope to sell out the entire white-ball series against India, in a move it claims shows the sport can own October and November.
Under former CA chief James Sutherland, cricket tried in vain to extend its reach and own February, but the creep of the football codes made this impossible.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece, Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg, and Australian cricket great Merv Hughes at the MCG in the build-up to this summer’s Ashes.Credit: Getty Images for Cricket Australia
A new plan to try and dominate October and early November with white-ball matches is gaining traction, if pre-sales for the series of matches against India are any guide.
One week out from next Sunday’s ODI opener in Perth, three matches have already sold out — the 50-over game at the SCG and T20s at the MCG and Manuka Oval.
Officials believe Perth and the following ODI at Adelaide Oval are also on track to be at capacity, along with a T20 at the Gabba.
The other two T20s on the Gold Coast and in Hobart are selling well, but it’s understood they shape as the biggest hurdle to a completely sold-out series.
Mitch Marsh celebrates his famous century at Headingley in the 2023 Ashes.Credit: Getty Images
In total, close to 180,000 public tickets have been sold for the eight white-ball matches, well above the initial forecast and with those numbers not including members at each venue.
It means that the fixtures are almost certain to make up the highest-selling October-November white-ball series in Australia outside of World Cups.
Officials also estimate that 700,000 tickets to all international games, including the women’s series, have been sold, reinforcing spectator interest this summer.
CA’s coffers will also be boosted this summer by the second season of its lucrative broadcast contract with Disney Star TV.
The white-ball sales are no doubt linked to India’s pulling power and huge ex-pat community in Australia, with last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy also breaking records.
But it comes as a welcome boost for CA, given limited-overs matches have at times been hard sells since going away from free-to-air TV and moving out of January to create clear air for the Big Bash.
CA is hopeful the series can set the tone for future white-ball matches in the early part of the season, which is now the clear preferred option.
England are due to play three ODIs and five T20s at the same time next year, while similarly-timed series will almost certainly feature in the next future tours program.
“What it validates is that ultimately October and November is within cricket season,” Morrison said.
“And if you get the scheduling right, you get the matches right and the fans will come. We’re looking at this stage of at least six matches getting to capacity, if not all eight.”
