• From: Robertsbridge
  • Registered: 20-09-2004
  • Posts: 2,816

Topic: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Argus says...........Sussex announce operating loss
12:11am Thursday 12th March 2009

By Bruce Talbot »

Chairman Jim May today admitted Sussex are unlikely to make a profit again until 2011.

The county made an operating loss of £686,335 last year, more than double their 2007 deficit of £302,986, with income from sponsorship, membership and gate receipts all down.

They reported a surplus on the balance sheet of £227,685 thanks to the legacy of their former vice-president Spen Cama.

The final payment of the £12.4million windfall totalled £357,972 while interest payments netted Sussex another £556,068 although the recession means those could slump by more than a third this year.

Sussex have more than £10million in the bank, most of which will be used to fund a scaled-down redevelopment of the County Ground, details of which will be given to members at the AGM on March 31.

May said: “I think we have got an excellent management structure in place at the club now and our business plan is to be profitable by 2011.

“We will aim to do this by driving revenue rather than cutting costs and (chief executive) Dave Brooks has several initiatives to increase membership and commercial revenue.

“Last year was disappointing in terms of membership and match revenue when we weren’t as focussed as we should have been. But in 2006 we got to the Lord’s final and the Twenty20 finals in 2007 and didn’t have anything like that last year.

“This summer we have a high-profile game against Australia which will be a fantastic one-off opportunity which we must maximise.”

The key to May’s determination of making Sussex profitable again remains the redvelopment of the County Ground.

In hindsight, the decision of his predecessor David Green to shelve ambitious plans to build flats and offices on hold looks sound given the subsequent credit crunch.

May said: “We’re still engaged in the consultation process with regard to ground development but our plans are much more modest although still aimed at providing a modern sporting venue for community and business use as well as cricket.

“It is the worst financial position in this country for 70 years but the priority is still to generate more income to ensure we maintain a major presence in English cricket.”

..........personally I think we need to revive the Eastbourne cricket week at the Saffrons and play a one day game at Hastings to attract new Sussex fans to the game.
What exactly are Mr Brook's several initiatives to increase membership and commercial revenue that will turn the Club around by 2011?
With the falling interest rate 2009 could be a very tough year for Sussex?

  • From: Southwater
  • Registered: 06-04-2007
  • Posts: 2,658

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Food for thought. What concerns me is that we need to get more money through the gate,but, looking through this years fixtures I don't see us increasing our revenue.

All of our 2020 matches are floodlit and follow each other rapidly. If we start badly crowds will reduce. In addition the fixture list isn't child friendly with few one day games at the weekend. We need to be looking at getting the youngsters into the game.

I hope that Australia will be a success now that we have come up with a sensible charging structure.

Our new CEO has a job on his hands!

  • From: Fishersgate Maritime Village
  • Registered: 04-11-2006
  • Posts: 10,444

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

i had a feeling the previous figures quoted didnt quite stack up - this is a major concern, although presumably still included the capital costs of £300k or so, which have been written off.

But we still seem to be miles off the stated intention of breaking even

Good luck, Mr Brooks!!!

  • Registered: 16-06-2008
  • Posts: 103

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Members should have received their Report & Accounts which gives more details of the 2008 finances.

The Operating Deficit of £686,355 includes the write off of £328,703 in respect of development costs. We decided this was prudent and was covered off in income terms by the last instalment of the Cama legacy. Overall the Club made an operating surplus of £203,534 which was within £2,000 of the prior year surplus.

I would urge all Message Boarders to become Members as you can then receive the full Report and Acoounts. We have included a Cash flow Statement for the first time which shows that the Club generated a net cash surplus of £216,780- disregarding ECB loans. This is another very important indicator.

Clearly our new Chief Executive and his team will have a challenging year but the building blocks are in place. Dave Brooks has either met or is meeting all the current and potential out grounds to try to come up with plans for 2010. We would like to play in the east but have to take account of the facilties, pitches, covering, finances and many other factors.

You are all very welcome to raise this and any other issues at the Open Forum that we will hold after the AGM on 31 March

  • From: United Kingdom
  • Registered: 27-08-2004
  • Posts: 3,447

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

I looked at the Accounts last week and just thought thank goodness for Spen Cama. Without his money we would have to sell Hove and the future would look bleak. We have made massive losses for about 4years in a row now but the interest on the Spen Cama money makes our figures look good. Interest will be well down this year.

I still wonder whether we employ too many admin. staff !!  The club needs to look at cost cutting.

Turning to our games we have just about given up on Sundays. 1 x50 over game at Hove and 2x40 over games at Arundel and Horsham.

Sundays are good days for attracting crowds so why have we given up on them?

At Hove we have 4 Saturdays,2 of them mid September.We need to have more 1 day cricket at weekends.

Turning to Eastbourne I am not sure we could have a 4 day game there as it would mean 1 less at Hove and they would probably have to play there in either April or September!!

I still think we would make some money at Eastbourne or Hastings if they had a1 dayer.

  • From: Fishersgate Maritime Village
  • Registered: 04-11-2006
  • Posts: 10,444

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Steve - my experience of bridging gaps between income and expenditure is that it is a darn sight easier increasing income than it is to decrease expenditure, which tends to re-create itself in another form when you make cuts, or not as much as initially envisaged

The key area to focus on therefore is the generation of extra income, without increasing costs at the same rate

  • From: Sunny Bognor Regis
  • Registered: 23-08-2004
  • Posts: 7,749

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

SPSL11 wrote:

Turning to our games we have just about given up on Sundays. 1 x50 over game at Hove and 2x40 over games at Arundel and Horsham.

Sundays are good days for attracting crowds so why have we given up on them?

At Hove we have 4 Saturdays,2 of them mid September.We need to have more 1 day cricket at weekends.

I would guess that the reason is that it is very difficult to sell corporate hospitality at weekends.
Invited business guests do not attend at weekends when it means giving up a non-working day to watch cricket even if it is free of charge.

I believe this is the same reason that some of the test matches have been moved to begin on Wednesdays, so that days 1, 2 and 3 are all working days.

I imagine Sussex like all other sports organisations need to maximise this area of sales as much as possible. Empty tents make no money.

An increase in family attendances because of weekend matches would help the long term success of the club, but when you are continually making big losses it is a brave person who fails to maximise sponsorship.

Short term or long term planning?

From 2014 I have doubts that being a Sussex fan will continue to be the best sporting pleasure on the planet.
  • From: Oxford
  • Registered: 17-09-2008
  • Posts: 2,971

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Agreed Sweaty, my experience as well. Also I am not sure that we couldn,t achieve a better return on the legacy money with bank interest rates at an all time low. We are in a pretty good position to make money, having the cash available and with land and building costs also at rock bottom prices.

  • From: Arundel
  • Registered: 25-08-2004
  • Posts: 4,438

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

Jim May (our Chairman) :

"The Operating Deficit of £686,355 includes the write off of £328,703 in respect of development costs."

Are these development costs in fact  professional and consultancy fees by another name? Or do we have anything tangible to show for them?

oh dear.

life member - you're stuck with me!

mike-by-the-sea's Website

  • From: Lagos
  • Registered: 25-12-2007
  • Posts: 614

Re: Sussex announce a thumping £686K operating loss!

[quote="The Paperboy
I would guess that the reason is that it is very difficult to sell corporate hospitality at weekends.
Invited business guests do not attend at weekends when it means giving up a non-working day to watch cricket even if it is free of charge.

I imagine Sussex like all other sports organisations need to maximise this area of sales as much as possible. Empty tents make no money.

Short term or long term planning?

Agreed but with the "Credit Crunch" now in full swing how are the bookings looking for the corporate hospitality tents. Will they outway the gate reciepts for the weekends which may bring in true cricket fans and kids/families who want to get into the game and might turn up for years after that.

Like you say tricky one.