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The Ashes has stood as cricket’s most storied rivalry for well over a century, with the meeting between England and Australia delivering sporting drama and commercial opportunities unlike anything else in the Test calendar.
In an era where cricket’s financial gravity has shifted towards franchise Twenty20 leagues, the Ashes remains the rare long-form property that consistently sparks a surge in ticket demand from fans and one that national governing bodies rely on to anchor major broadcast partnerships and sponsorship deals.
Australia are bidding to retain the urn, having held it since the 2017/18 series, while England go in search of a first win Down Under in 14 years.
Australia retained the Ashes in 2023 after the series in England was drawn 2-2 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The venues
The action gets underway at Optus Stadium in Perth on 21st November, before the Brisbane Cricket Ground – known as the Gabba – hosts the second Test from 4th December. The third Test takes place at Adelaide Oval from 17th December, while the Melbourne Cricket Ground retains its traditional spot for the Boxing Day Test. The Sydney Cricket Ground closes the show from 4th January.
In total, the schedule could see up to 25 days of cricket played across a 48-day period, which is particularly demanding for a five-match Test series.
This will also be the first time Optus Stadium hosts an Ashes Test since it opened in 2018 and marks the return of the series to Perth after the city was omitted from the 2021/22 schedule. It also means this will be the first Ashes series in Australia not to begin at the Gabba since the 1982/83 edition.
The prospect of a more hard-fought contest than in previous years Down Under has driven strong ticket demand. A total of 311,066 were sold on the opening day of pre-sale back in June, obliterating the previous record of 111,741 in 2017/18.
Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Todd Greenberg said it represented the highest level of sales in the country “since Taylor Swift was here” and believes it could outstrip the sales for the pop star’s ‘Eras’ tour in Sydney and Melbourne in February 2024, when 620,000 fans attended across seven dates.
Perth’s AUS$1.6 billion Optus Stadium will host its first Ashes Test match after officially opening in 2018 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Broadcast arrangements
Pay-TV network Foxtel and free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster Seven are sharing broadcast rights, with both showing every ball. The pair inked a AUS$1.512 billion (US$982 million) extension to their partnership with CA at the start of 2023, running from mid-2024 until the end of the 2030/31 summer.
In the UK, the Ashes remain behind a paywall after TNT Sports secured exclusive rights across its linear channels and Discovery+ streaming platform. It marks the third consecutive Ashes series in Australia broadcast by TNT, which also covered England’s tours in 2017/18 and 2021/22 under its previous guise as BT Sport.
The rights to the Ashes are sold by the home cricket board, which in this case is CA. The organisation reportedly went to market in the UK seeking a long-term deal spanning at least four years that was worth around UK£15 million (US$19.6 million) annually, only to generate little interest from Sky Sports, which has not broadcast an away Ashes series since 2013/14.
For those in the UK without a TNT subscription, there will be ball-by-ball radio commentary from Test Match Special (TMS) on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website and app. Commercial broadcaster TalkSport previously held the radio rights.
Seven and Foxtel are sharing broadcast rights to the Ashes in Australia, while TNT Sports has exclusive live coverage in the UK (Image credit: Getty Images)
Sponsorship overview
NRMA Insurance will serve as the series’ title sponsor, having extended its pact with CA in November.
The Aussies go into the Ashes with a new front-of-shirt sponsor, having unveiled Westpac bank as their principal partner on a four-year deal reportedly worth AUS$40 million (US$25.9 million) to CA. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) named Toyota as its new principal partner and front-of-shirt sponsor in April, replacing Cinch. The International Cricket Council (ICC) began permitting front-of-shirt sponsorships for Test teams in 2020, originally as a temporary measure to help domestic boards offset revenue losses during Covid-19.
CA’s apparel is supplied by Asics on a deal until 2028, while the England team have been kitted out by Castore since 2022. The latter arrangement is worth UK£25 million (US$32.7 million) over ten years, according to The Times.
Below the top principal partner tier, CA counts Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Origin Energy (also the team’s sleeve sponsor) and Toyota as platinum partners. The gold partner tier consists of Asics, Aussie Broadband, Bet365, Chemist Warehouse, HCLTech, Liquorland, Qantas, Weber, and Woolworths. Gatorade, Gillette, Kookaburra, McGuigan Wines, and Nu-Pure are all silver partners.
The ECB does not have partnership tiers beyond its principal partner, though it offers specific designations. For example, Zoopla is the governing body’s official property partner. KP Snacks-owned Tyrells and online trading provider IG also serve as sleeve sponsors, while Vitality has its logo on the lower back of England’s shirts.
Other brands that partner with the ECB include Chapel Down, Cognizant, Initial, Metro Bank, Rado, Rothesay, and SunGod.
CA goes into the Ashes less than a month after announcing its 2024/25 financial results. The organisation saw revenue increase by AUS$49.2 million (US$31.9 million) from 2023/24 to AUS$453.7 million (US$294.6 million), predominantly driven by a new domestic media deal and match revenue from the five-test series against India. However, it posted a net deficit of AUS$11.3 million (US$7.3 million) due to a sharp increase in costs.
The ECB, meanwhile, reported a pre-tax profit of UK£2.6 million (US$3.4 million) for 2024/25, a significant drop from UK£27.9 million (US$36.5 million) in the year prior. Turnover also dipped UK£16.4 million (US$21.5 million) to UK£319.6 million (US$418.5 million), primarily due to the absence of a men’s Ashes series.
More than 50,000 Ashes tickets were snapped up by England fans on their first day of international pre-sale (Image credit: Getty Images)
Any other business?
‘Bazball’ – the term used to describe the England Test side’s fearless, aggressive, risk-embracing style with both bat and in the field – has divided opinion but data suggests it has won over many fans.
According to Nielsen Sports’ latest research, the England men’s cricket team has 10.9 million fans in the UK, a figure that has risen by 27 per cent since Brendon McCullum (nicknamed ‘Baz’) came in as coach in 2022.
With McCullum and captain Ben Stokes signing contracts through to the next Ashes in England in 2027, Nielsen also forecasts that the ECB can expect major uplifts on commercial deals negotiated in this period.
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