Emirates Old Trafford is hosting the biggest year of cricket in the Club’s history with almost half a million people expected to visit the stadium. The award-winning venue is showcasing a festival of cricket this year, including the ICC Cricket World Cup and the 4th Specsavers Ashes Test, Lancashire’s domestic campaign, as well as showcasing its intelligent event space and delivering first class hospitality at TheStadiumBusiness Summit.
The stadium, with a capacity of 23,500, is no stranger to hosting the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup having hosted matches in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999. Following a 20-year gap, the competition has returned to home soil and a transformed Emirates Old Trafford is welcoming over 140,000 spectators to six matches across June and July, including a semi-final.
The biggest game in world cricket, India v Pakistan took place on 16 June with over 500 million spectators watching live on TV. This figure is continuing to build across digital and other platforms, taking the viewing figures to over one billion. The tension will continue to build across a further five matches, including the West Indies v India game on 22 June, and across the next three weeks ahead of the Semi-Final on 9 July.
Following the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Emirates Old Trafford hosts the fiercest rivalry in domestic cricket as Lancashire Lightning take on Yorkshire Vikings on 9 August in the Vitality Blast. Last year’s fixture attracted the highest ever attendance of 22,515 for a Vitality Blast fixture outside of London and Finals Day and the fixture saw the second highest TV audience on Sky Sports for a domestic fixture over the last decade. The Club is expecting another record attendance of over 23,000 for this year’s game.
In September, The Ashes, one of the most iconic games in world sport, will return to the historic home of Lancashire Cricket Club for the first time since 2013, with England looking to reclaim the urn from rivals Australia. Over the years, Emirates Old Trafford has played host to some of the most memorable moments in Ashes cricket, including Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’ and the incredible 2005 draw, which went all the way down to the final ball.
Off the pitch, Emirates Old Trafford played host to the prestigious TheStadiumBusiness Summit conference earlier this month, bringing hundreds of delegates from across the world to Manchester.
TheStadiumBusiness Summit celebrated its tenth birthday at the venue, with a calendar of events and keynotes across a two-day period, culminating in the sector’s most respected awards – TheStadiumBusiness Awards. Hosted by Emirates Old Trafford, delegates were able to experience the hospitality and conference facilities before the stadium was transformed for a bumper cricket season starting with the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive at Lancashire Cricket said: “We’re incredibly proud to be hosting the biggest year in the Club’s history. In 2019, Emirates Old Trafford welcomes the ICC Cricket World Cup, the 4th Specsavers Ashes Test and Lancashire’s domestic campaign, as well as a number of major events including the prestigious StadiumBusiness Summit, which we held earlier this month.
“It’s a year that is going to be a huge challenge, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to inspire the next generation of cricket supporters. The Club has a vision to be the best place to enjoy cricket in the world, and we are well on the way to achieving that.
“This is the year that the Club has been working towards for the last decade and, hosting the ICC Cricket World Cup and an Ashes Test in the same year happens very, very rarely. Our continued growth is testament to the team and is the reason that we’re able to host world-class events in not only the sporting calendar, but also within the conference and events industry which continues to thrive at the venue.”
