Change Proposal

#ChangingTheGame
A GAME-CHANGING
PARTNERSHIP PROPOSITION BETWEEN
3 INDUSTRY LEADING BRANDS

NETBALL ON THE RISE
Netball is the UK’s No1 female participation sport and is one of Britain’s fastest growing and highest profile sports.
4 UK TEAMS
RANKED IN
TOP 11
IN THE WORLD
1.9M+
PARTICIPANTS
July 2019. All games Televised
Sky Sports’ flagship
UK wide women’s
sports League
ACORN
CATEGORY
47%
22%
AFFLUENT
ACHIEVERS
7%
FINANCIALLY
STRETCHED
7%
URBAN
DIVERSITY
18%
RISING
PROSPERITY
COMFORTABLE
COMMUNITIES
GENDER SPLIT
78.2%
• Ranked 8th in the world
• Country’s fastest growing sport
• 71% membership growth
2016-2019
• Industry recognised & award
winning SGB
• 3rd most popular sport in schools
FASTEST GROWING SPORT
IN SCOTLAND
SPECTATOR
BUYER AGE
8%
35%
27%
20%
65+
55-64
45-54
35-44
26-34
22-25
21.8%
6%
3%
16-21
2

NETBALL IN SCOTLAND...
... is thriving, with significant growth recorded across Performance, Profile and Participation. Much of this success can be
attributed to the launch of the Sirens Vitality Netball Superleague Franchise in 2017.
Far more than just a ‘team in a League’, the Sirens blazed a trail into a new era for sport in Scotland in 2017, and have shown no
signs of slowing down since.
As the country’s only national semi-pro women’s sports team with a Sky Sports TV broadcast deal, the newly named Strathclyde
Sirens compete in the UK wide Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) against 8 English and one Welsh side, and are known as much
for their off-court impact as they are for their on-court performances. As pioneers in Scottish women’s sport, the Sirens launched
their #ChangingTheGame campaign in their debut season, and have not only been recognised in the Scottish and UK Parliaments
for their positive impact in the industry, but they have also been the recipient of many national, UK and global awards for their work
in tackling gender inequality and disparity in sport head on, with much of their work taking place in schools and with young people.
Owned by Netball Scotland, and strategically partnered with the prestigious University of Strathclyde, the Strathclyde Sirens have
ambitions to be one of the top female sports brands in the UK.
The Strathclyde Sirens acts as a high performance development platform for Scotland’s national athletes, and with the Netball
World Cup in Liverpool later this year, the 2019 VNSL Season is the team’s most important to date.
3

THE STORY SO FAR
SEASON 1
THE RESULTS
2nd & 4th Highest
TV viewing audiences
3rd
highest total match
day spectators
Final position
in league
6th
Most intercepts
(Aiken-Pinnock) &
2nd highest goals
scored (Borrego)
Improved National Performances:
Highest ranking of 9th in world
Qualification for NWC 2019
8th at NWYC 2017
Recognised in Scottish & UK
Parliaments for positive
impact on women’s sport
Highest social media &
press coverage in the League
Team Scotland Awards Finalist –
Sporting Moment of the Year &
Team of the Year
4

THE STORY SO FAR
SEASON 2
SOCIAL MEDIA
700k+ 89% of fans
#WEARESIRENS
engage
people
reached
regularly
25% Increase
in page likes
69k people
reached via
Groupon
Groupon 5 star
Customer rating
MEDIA
288,000 listeners
Clyde 1 Breakfast
Show Campaign
MATCH DAYS
100+ articles
& mentions
across...
96% of fans
enjoy match day
74% would recommend
to friends & family
1500+ items of
merchandise sold
100+ staff &
volunteers involved
SKY SPORTS
AWARDS
Scottish Women
Women Sport’s
In Sport ‘Campaign
Trust
of the Year’ for
Finalist for Role
#ChangingTheGame
Models of the
Year (Team Category)
1st & 2nd highest TV views
237,000 people watched
UWS Sirens this season
5

SIRENS MAKE THEIR
SOUND THE ALARM
Scotland’s history-making Sirens
out to empower women in sport as they
shoot for top slot in netball Superleague
The
Greatest
Fans
Sky’s the limit for
says Claire Nelson

MARK ON THE VNSL
the Sirens,
Katherine
The Great!

WHERE WE ARE TODAY
The Sirens are a wholly owned subsidiary of Netball Scotland (NS), completely commercially funded. After an initial 2 years’
partnership with the University of the West of Scotland, Netball Scotland parted company with them last summer and signed an
exciting new 5-year six-figure deal with the University of Strathclyde.
Sirens is embedded into the Netball Scotland operation and performance programme, overseen by the NS CEO and governed by a
Board of Directors and professional advisors that reports into the NS Board. There is a full time Operations Manager and Marketing
Manager, a part time administrator and up to 50 match day volunteers. Additional support and expertise is provided by a team of
20 central and regional full time staff. Athlete support services are provided by the sportscotland institute of sport. A professional
sports presentation team delivers match day entertainment.
There is a full time Head Coach in place who is also the National Coach for Scotland, and a two volunteer assistant coaches plus
a volunteer team manager. The focus this season was on preparation for the Netball World Cup in Liverpool in July so 85% of the
players in the team are current Scottish national players.
Each VNSL team has a squad of up to 15 players – 10 core players plus up to 5 training partners. The 10 core players are a mix of
semi-pro and professional, with salaries for 9 of the core players needing to fall within a salary collar of £45k and cap of £75k (this
is set to increase year on year). 1 marquee player can fall outside of the cap to be paid a higher fee. Each team is allowed to recruit
2 eligible overseas players as part of their core 10.
The most successful teams in the League are largely made up of England players with strong imports, and are coached by established
English Head Coaches. As Scotland is currently placed 8th in the world rankings and England is 2nd, a predominantly Scottish
team is unlikely at this point to be able to compete for a place in the top 4 final play offs, let alone challenge for the VNSL title.
Coach and Player recruitment is a critical priority to create a truly competitive team on the court, and is wholly dependent on
securing increased investment to attract the top talent.
Off court there are numerous successes to celebrate:
One of the strongest brands in our sport, global and UK recognition
across netball community
Best match day event delivery and spectator proposition
Consistently top 3 highest match day spectator numbers in VNSL

OUR BUDGET MODEL
Currently operating to a very lean budget of £275k with NS covering significant costs including training, athlete expenses, office
overheads, travel, coach salary, marketing, IT and pre-season match play. Whilst ticket revenue has increased YoY, sponsorship
revenue is significantly below target due to a lack of dedicated resource and expertise to drive this area of the business.
EXPENDITURE:
INCOME:
Home Games £30k Sponsorship 60%
Away Games £40k Ticket Income £25%
Players Costs £100k Camps, Merch, Other 15%
Staff & Operations £105k
To drive a stronger and more sustainable operation, improve performance through the recruitment of top coaching and playing
talent, increase audience reach through a marketing and advertising strategy, and continue to improve on the match day and brand
proposition, a significant increase in income is required.
COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
There is uncapped potential to grow the income streams.
• Significant sponsorship packages available:
• 4 x premium packages with dress branding
(value £50k each)
• Individual player sponsorship
• Training kit branding
• 8 x home match days (incl min 1 Sky Sports)
• 60% capacity on ticket sales (based on 1400 capacity
in back hall; main Arena has 5,000-7,000 seats)
• Just 75 season ticket packages sold
• Currently no hospitality or courtside box packages sold
• Limited merchandise sales
• Limited camp and coaching programme delivery
• Limited VIK partnerships – opportunity re travel, hotels,
transport, athlete supplies, kit, accountancy, technology
and other supplier partnerships.

THE AMBITION
TO WIN THE VITALITY NETBALL SUPERLEAGUE
(AND TO CONTEST FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP YEAR ON YEAR)
TO BE ONE OF THE LEADING NETBALL FRANCHISES IN THE WORLD
WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN?
Attract the sport’s top Coaching and Playing talent
Improve on court performances to being consistently competitive
Increase match day spectator numbers
Increase influence and impact in women’s sports industry
WHAT WE NEED
Increased investment to secure coaching and playing talent
Increased marcoms resource and activity to grow audience
Expertise and insight to create 5-year strategy for success
10

THE PROPOSITION:
A PIONEERING PARTNERSHIP
Each have the vision
TO BE NO.1 IN THEIR FIELD IN SCOTLAND
Create a shared vision
TO BE THE NO1 FEMALE SPORTS
PLATFORM IN THE UK
NO1 FOR:
Performance | Reach | Engagement | Impact
Player Support | Pathways | Community
Commercial Investment | Fanbase | Media Coverage
Leadership | Brand | Innovation
11

(
AN INDUSTRY LEADING MODEL
Fast growing
Sky Sports
National & Club teams
UK League
World competition
Female audience
Women’s sport expertise
National membership
Global brand
Performance sport expertise
All Scottish media channels
Domestic & European League
Audience of millions
Strong operation & infrastructure
Attractive commercial proposition
Women’s team
UK wide & International reach
Extensive resource
Political influence
Ambitious growth strategy
Academic research
Innovation & enterprise
Facilities
Supporter of
Netball Scotland & Celtic
Through this pioneering tri-partite agreement, this partnership has the opportunity to create the UK’s leading female sports club
model. Combining their industry leading expertise, this collaboration can drive success both on and off the football pitch and
netball court for women’s sport, and for all parties involved. And by bringing together the two biggest women’s sports platforms
in Scotland, and harnessing the brand, fan, commercial and media potential of this collaboration, the opportunities for growth and
impact are limitless.
The women’s sport movement has never been bigger, and brands are acutely aware of the power of the female consumer audience.
With rugby clubs like Wasps and Saracens evidencing the positive impact that they can have on the performance and growth of
English netball Franchises in the Superleague, we believe that there is an opportunity to bring together Scotland’s leading football
and netball clubs to deliver the most successful Franchise delivery model to date. A model that strengthens all partners.
12

PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS
INCREASED
Reach
Recruitment
Profile
Reputation in sports
Student experience & engagement
Student athlete pathways
Position in Scotland -
Most innovative/pioneering
UNIVERSITY OF
STRATHCLYDE
NETBALL
SCOTLAND/SIRENS
IMPROVED
Performance (in the league & internationally)
Profile
Participation
‘Game Changer’ for the sport
Successful NWC Bid - future
CELTIC FC
INCREASED
Income
Reach
Audience
Strengthened position as No.1 Scottish sports brand
IMPROVE WOMEN’S TEAMS
Performance
Profile
Talent Pool
Pathway
Pathway into English League
BENEFITS OF TRI-PARTITE AGREEMENT
INDUSTRY LEADING/PIONEERING - NOBODLY ELSE IS DOING THIS!
SHARED RISK
SHARED DELIVERY MODEL
INCREASED REACH
INCREASED EXPERTISE & SHARED INNOVATION
INCREASED IMPACT
INCREASED INCOME STREAMS:-
Sponsorship (economies of scale across both netball and football)
Match Tickets
Hospitality
Camps, Masterclasses & Coaching
Merchandise (female ath-leisure range)
Events
GOOD OPERATIONAL BASE (location of NS, CFC and UoS)
3 REPUTABLE AND FAST GROWING BRANDS
ICONIC - A HEADLINE FOR SCOTLAND
VISION
CREATE A SINGLE WOMEN’S
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS ACADEMY:
PRO & SEMI-PRO TEAMS
PATHWAY
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
SKILLS ACADEMY
BUSINESS CLUB
EDUCATION
CAMPS AND COACHING
MEDIA CENTRE
RESEARCH HUB
13

THE COMMERCIAL MODEL
Entirely commercially funded, less than 3 years old and having proved the impact of, and appetite for, netball in Scotland, it is now
time for Sirens to build and deliver a commercial strategy for growth. Having secured a 5 year partnership with the University
of Strathclyde which focusses on developing the high performance pathway and the recruitment of talented players, additional
commercial investment is required to allow the Club to execute an ambitious plan for improved performance and audience growth
through the recruitment of coaching and playing talent, as well as activating a nationwide marketing strategy.
Delivering improved success both on and off the court accelerates the growth of our brand and platform. And with the Netball World
Cup in July projected to drive a massive spike in interest and engagement in the sport, it is critical that Sirens capitalise on this
opportunity.
To deliver against our plan, an additional injection of investment and expertise is required.
An injection of minimum £150,000 to £250,000 is required to invest into:
Recruitment of a high profile, quality Head Coach to attract top playing talent, create a winning culture & deliver strong results
Recruitment of a core of quality English players
Recruitment of a top flight overseas player
Delivery of a marketing and advertising campaign to increase awareness, visibility and match day spectators
Recruitment of a digital marketing assistant / digital content creator
Enhancement of match day event proposition
THE MODEL
A flexible investment model can be implemented to create a
commercially attractive proposition. Sirens would like to explore
a minimum 3 year partnership agreement.
Scenarios to consider:
• Cash investment in return for branding rights
• Cash investment year 1, recouped through sponsorship
year 2 onwards
• Secure external sponsorships to minimum value of £150k,
plus significant value in kind support to grow and develop
brand to remove direct cash investment.
• Combination of cash, VIK and external sponsorship
THE RETURN
% of sponsorship revenue
% of ticket sales over target – profit share scheme
% of merchandise sales through shared supplier and online
commerce model
Increased expertise in development of Celtic Women’s Team
Shared platform for promotion of Celtic Women’s Team
Creation of a single women’s sports platform – can diversify
into other sports in future
Creation of a women’s sports Business Club to access new
corporate customers and markets
Increased sponsorship rights – bundle across both sports
Opportunity to showcase women’s football team and bundles
tickets packages
14

We believe that the Celtic brand can help Sirens to
achieve success in the Vitality Netball Superleague
and to disrupt the League, and women’s sport, through
this innovative and pioneering partnership.
The rugby/netball model has delivered on court results
to date, but their approach is limited when compared
to the scale, influence and impact of the
Celtic brand machine.