Cricket, horse racing, tennis and women’s football set to benefit from £300m summer sport aid package
Sport is to receive a £300m recovery package as part of the Budget announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak today.
Cricket, horse racing, tennis, women’s football and rugby league are expected to be among the sports to benefit from the financial support.
It follows similar aid granted to winter sports in November to mitigate the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The £300m is part of a £700m support fund for art, culture and sport confirmed by Sunak this afternoon.
Funding is also to be made available to launch a bid for the UK and Ireland to host football’s 2030 World Cup, he added.
“We’re making available £700m to support our incredible art, culture and sporting institutions as they reopen, backing the UK and Ireland’s joint 2030 World Cup bid, launching a new approach to apprenticeships in the creative industries, and extending our £500m film and TV production restart scheme.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said £300m of that would go to “spectator sports such as cricket, tennis and horse racing”.
Oakwell Sports Advisory, whose board includes former England cricket chief Colin Graves, said it expected cricket to receive the most aid.
It estimated the England and Wales Cricket Board’s revenue fell by £100m last year, leaving all stakeholders needing “significant financial help”.
Oakwell predicts that horse racing will receive a similar amount to the £40m it was afforded in the winter package. Tennis should receive £20-30m, it said.
It added: “WSL [Women’s Super League] and women’s football will be prioritised in the summer bailout fund.”