Clubs have many goals they need to achieve. Which is why it is important to have key performance indicators (KPIs). These let you know how you are performing against your goals. Are you reaching your goals, all the time or once in a while if at all? In episode 24 we discussed this very topic of KPI and we talked about what they are and why you need them. So this episode is a sequel to episode 24 but this time we will focus on the 5 KPIs all clubs should be focusing on. And in no particular order, these are; 1. Ticket sales 2. Merchandise sales 3. Matchday attendance 4. The value of your sponsorship agreements and finally number 5. The revenue you get from all of the other four KPIs. Let’s dive right in then shall we?
So ticket sales is the first KPI. And if you remember in episode 24 we said that your KPIs and goals should be smart meaning that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. When setting ticket sales as a KPI, you want to be able to answer questions like how have our ticket sales been in a specific time period. And for all clubs the goal is to increase ticket sales or if you are always at full capacity a 100% of the time (which is impossible), you want to keep those numbers consistent. The reason you want ticket sales as a KPI is that this is the strongest indicator of your fans loyalty and the success of your ticketing campaigns have huge impact on your merchandise sales, sponsorship and matchday revenue.
The second KPI is merchandise. Merchandise sales are a good revenue source for any club so of course you want to ensure that you are increasing your merchandise sales. Once again, when tracking this you have to make sure that you have specific goals for a specific period so that you can measure the effectiveness of your merchandise sales.
Just because people are buying tickets to your games does not mean that they end up attending the game. No-shows are such a common occurrence in sports that clubs have had to be innovative to tackle this issue. A great example of this is FC Midtjylland who adopted a subscription based ticketing model to discourage no shows. Listen to the discussion that our CEO and Founder Stefan Lavén had with the ticketing manager of FC Midtjylland Martin Jacobsen in episode 49 of the podcast. Matchday attendance is a KPI that you need to keep a close eye on so that you make sure that your stadium is as full as possible.
Number 4, you need to keep an eye on the value of your sponsorship agreements. Have your agreements been growing in value in the past two years or so? Which sponsorship have proven to have the highest engagement and/or return on investment in the last 5 years? Which potential sponsors do your supporters have a strong affinity and interest in and how would that possibly impact your sponsorship value in the next 5 years? There are so many KPIs you can track so do it. Track the value of your sponsorship agreements.
Last but not least is revenue. Has your revenue increased or decreased in the past season? Are you forecasting it to grow in the future or decrease? How much of your revenue comes from your ticket sales, merchandise sales, matchday purchases and sponsorship agreements? And are all categories continuing to grow in revenue or are some decreasing? Is there potential to make more revenue from 1 or 2 if not all of the above categories? Once again there are many KPIs you can track under this one KPI.
But why do you keep an eye on Key performance indicators? Because they will be your guide on what to do next, or what not to do. They inform you on how you are performing. This we all know is crucial for improving the commercial success of any club - big or small.
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