Business Advantages of Supporter Community ... - Supporters Direct

8 Match Day Spending
Key Question:
Does supporter community ownership help generate greater levels
of match day spending
Top Three Findings
i) Clubs felt that fans were more minded to spend money on a match
day at club owned facilities (where they existed) because they owned a
tangible stake in the club.
ii) Most clubs did not have any figures to substantiate this feeling, however.
iii) Some clubs had developed innovative ways for supporters to contribute
more whilst also maintaining affordability.
Match day ‘second spend’ is a key
Match day ‘second spend’ is a key element of income for all the clubs
element of club income for all surveyed. However, ensuring that
the clubs concerned. However, spending was far more achievable
capturing that spending was far when clubs owned their own facilities.
more effective when clubs owned For those that did not own their
their own facilities.
facilities, securing that spending was a
major motivation for developing them.
Facilities permitting, many of the clubs interviewed felt that supporters
would be more likely to spend a greater amount of money within the
ground because they knew it would benefit the club directly.
However, the ‘added value’ of community supporter ownership in this
regard is very difficult to quantify in any meaningful sense, because it is
almost impossible to compare like with like, although a few of the clubs had
supporting statistics.
One club who have calculated current match day spending is AFC Telford
United, whose current second spend is about £2 per head. They are also
developing ways in which they can monitor this more effectively, including
adoption of practices seen at much larger clubs, such as an AFC Telford
United club card. AFC Wimbledon estimate their match day second
spend at around £2.00 per head, which on crowds of 3,000 is a significant
revenue stream.
34 Supporters Direct Briefing Paper No.4