League of Ireland Premier League Division club Shamrock Rovers has increased its season ticket sales by 37% for the 2022 season.
Shamrock, which plays its home games at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, wanted to bring fans back in big numbers following the pandemic and began working with Fulltime Analytics, a Dublin-based data-driven sports marketing technology business.
The collaboration established a data-driven culture across commercial operations. Utilising the Fulltime Analytics Advisory service, Rovers was able to structure all of its fan data to create an immediate impact.
Denis Donohoe, chief executive of Shamrock Rovers, said: “There were some great nights and record attendances in Tallaght at the end of last season. Many discovered, or rediscovered, the joy and excitement of seeing attractive and winning football live.
“Our ambition was to build on that experience and encourage supporters to ‘trade up’ to a 2022 season ticket. Fulltime Analytics provided us with invaluable support and insight to achieve that ambition, helping us to identify and communicate effectively with those fans.”
The first step was to organise the data that included match ticket buyers, memberships, newsletter subscribers, kids’ football camp members, merchandise buyers and a legacy CRM system. The next step was to use the data in a meaningful way utilising Fulltime Insights, a purpose-built sports dashboard that covers business streams across ticketing, merchandise, fans and sponsors.
Shamrock was able to integrate Fulltime’s solutions with its ticketing provider Future Ticketing, as well as its online Shopify store, third party merchandise store and the club shop.
By having each element connected, Shamrock was able to have a realtime view of how each channel is performing.
The club also utilised Fulltime’s Fan Engage marketing solution, allowing Shamrock to segment groups of fans based on their demographics and behaviours, to make sure they were receiving the right and most effective marketing communications.
By using an omnichannel approach and aligning social media and email campaigns, Shamrock Rovers was able to increase its marketable database, which in turn led to a 37% increase in season ticket sales compared to the sales ahead of the 2020 season.
Fulltime’s CEO Greg Slattery added: “Fulltime Analytics were delighted to work with the most iconic football club in Ireland to harness the power of their data. Denis and his team are very forward-thinking in their approach to running the commercial aspect of the club, we are excited to continue supporting Rovers across their data, marketing, and fan communication needs.”