An independent evaluation has revealed that the Kia Oval hosting matches and events in 2025 generated a £94 million boost for the local area.
Surrey CCC’s first ever Local Economic Impact Report has revealed that more than 550,000 people visited the Kia Oval to take in the cricket or to attend conference and events at the iconic ground injecting cash into the area through spend on food & drink, transport and accommodation amongst other areas.
477,000 spectators visited to take in action across 54 days of domestic and international cricket, including 127,000 who were there as the Kia Oval hosted one of the great Test Matches as England and India played out a five-day thriller ending with an India victory as every day of the match sold out.
Away from the cricket side of the organisation, there were nearly 550 events held at the venue with a total of 92,000 attendees, ranging from small meetings all the way up to 4,000 people conferences. Events hosted included industry leading conference SportsPro, the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards, the International Wine Challenge and a host of Christmas parties.
The research, conducted by Two Circles, found that events at the Kia Oval in 2025 generated £82 million in economic impact, comprising £47.7M of direct impact, £22.4M of indirect impact and £11.9M of induced impact.
This takes into account what the Club, attendees and organisers spent during the events including on food, drink, transport and accommodation. As well as the knock-on effect of people attending events including secondary impact of supply chain for businesses. Surrey are committed to paying employees the London Living Wage as a minimum salary, and the knock-on, economic multiplier effect of staff wages is also considered in the evaluation. The Club were honoured for this work at 2023 Living Wage Champion Awards, where it was awarded with the title of ‘Iconic Champion’.
Amongst the cricket matches hosted at the Kia Oval, the Test Match had the biggest economic impact with one third of the annual direct impact coming from those five days. The Hundred (22%) and the Vitality Blast (21%) were the next biggest contributors.
An additional £10M was generated by the media exposure of the local area generated by the matches that take place at the Kia Oval in broadcast, written and social media. Broadcast coverage of matches hosted at the Kia Oval reached a cumulative audience of more than 61 million viewers worldwide.
Finally, the Club’s support of community initiatives including through the Surrey Cricket Foundation and the ACE Programme, added £2.1M of measurable social value. This includes direct financial support through grants, bursaries and community investment. It also considers the benefit of widening participation in sport and the wellbeing value of supporting more people to take part in physical activity as well as the value-in-kind contribution of the Surrey Cricket Foundation providing free-at-the-point-of-use cricket sessions.
Surrey have committed to an ambitious target of reaching Net Zero and all emissions created by the activities of the Club are considered and mitigated as far as is possible to limit the negative impact on the environment.
The assessment also estimated an environmental cost of £256K associated with Surrey CCC operations, attendee travel and accommodation activity.
To counter the carbon emissions contributions of attendees visiting the ground, the Club runs a series of initiative and programmes to reduce waste, support biodiversity restoration and educate the Surrey cricket community.
The figures underscore the importance of the Kia Oval to the London sports industry, a hugely important sector for the capital. As well as regular events such as Premier League and Championship football, Wimbledon, rugby internationals at Twickenham and the World Darts Championship, 2025 saw the Women’s Rugby World Cup, NFL games at the Tottenham Stadium and Wembley and Golden League athletics at the London Stadium.
Steve Elworthy, CEO at Surrey County Cricket Club, said “It’s an honour and a privilege to host so many people at the Kia Oval every year and so to see the positive impact it has on the economy of the local area is very rewarding.
“We take our role in the local community very seriously whether that’s working with residents over the day to day impact of welcoming so many people to the area or supporting the next generation of young people to learn and grow through cricket. We’re proud to be a London Living Wage Employer and the knock-on effect of looking after our staff is that we also support our local businesses and do our part to make Kennington, south London and Surrey a thriving place to live and work.”
