In Focus: Fanfare To Commercial Success
As multi-billion-pound investments continue to be made into sporting venues, global real estate advisory company, CBRE, and global professional services company, Turner & Townsend, are helping football clubs to enhance local economic growth through infrastructure development, support community regeneration and, crucially, improve the fan experience.
As the beautiful game continues to captivate audiences worldwide, and the experience economy continues its global growth, football clubs are under increasing pressure to deliver a world-class experience for their fans.
Gone are the days of simply selling tickets and merchandise. Today, fans expect a holistic, engaging and personalised experience that extends far beyond the stadium gates. By placing the supporter at the heart of its operations, football clubs can unlock new revenue streams, build brand loyalty and drive commercial success.
Fans’ multi-touchpoint journey now spans pre-match, matchday and postmatch, encompassing ticket purchasing, stadium navigation, social media engagement, hospitality and so much more. It means clubs are increasingly adopting a customer-centric approach, putting fans at the centre of their operations.
Optimising the journey begins with planning; whether it’s delivering a new football ground, making improvements to the existing infrastructure or overhauling a club’s training facilities. By partnering with a strategic advisor like CBRE, clubs can successfully navigate the regulatory roadmap, ultimately delivering a premium experience for fans.
In 2017, CBRE was asked to source a new stadium site in Liverpool for Everton Football Club. Earlier this year, Everton’s new 50,000+ seater stadium at Bramley Moore Dock was unveiled to eager fans for the first time by way of a test event ahead of its official opening next season. To enable this major milestone for the Toffees, CBRE accompanied the club on the entire journey; from sourcing the location, preparing the planning application and managing an exceptionally large client/ sub-consultant/contractor team through to Liverpool City Council’s planning committee who unanimously approved the application in February 2021.
Today, sport can act as the catalyst for wider regeneration, economic growth and large-scale infrastructure development. Turner & Townsend has seen this first hand, advising Premier League clubs for over 10 years, through its project and cost management expertise, delivering new state-of-the-art stadiums and training facilities. The results have been truly transformative, delivering multi-purpose facilities which create environments that set football clubs up for success on and off the pitch.
In the ever-evolving world of professional sports the stadium can drive operational and commercial performance and act as the centrepiece for wider mixed-used development and placemaking spanning hotels, housing, training and leisure facilities, schools or colleges, transport upgrades, improved connectivity and mobility, while delivering jobs and enriching people’s lives. Football clubs have always been the heartbeat of their communities, but now they can increasingly be the destination of choice for fans to live, work and play.
Sustainability has emerged as a mainstream feature on all football clubs’ agendas. Plymouth Argyle Football Club (PAFC) became one of the first EFL clubs to receive a Gold award, and achieve a full GreenCode, as part of their commitment to making a positive impact on the environment. In 2022, the club launched an Energy and Environmental Plan, outlining their plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The club also procures 100% clean renewable energy, living up to their club nickname ‘the Greens’.
Football clubs have an important role to play in their local communities, too. Club owners, as custodians, have a dual role looking after the needs of the club and that of the wider community. By way of example, PAFC has been named EFL Community Club of the Season for League One, acknowledging the work of Project35 to tackle child poverty in Devon and Cornwall. This social action initiative has seen 30,000 meals provided to those in need and several tonnes of food generated for local food banks. This demonstrates the truly transformative impact that football clubs now have on the communities they operate in.
Back to the matchday itself, the fans’ experience is broad, including everything from accessing and exiting the stadium smoothly, having viable and easily accessible transport connections and feeling safe and secure in the ground. This extends to fans expecting access to the players with hundreds often lining up ahead of the game to greet their heroes. They will be the first to use social media channels to demonstrate their joy if a player stops to sign an autograph, or frustration if they have been queuing for hours.
Clubs are increasingly utilising the latest technology to deliver a seamless experience for fans. This can be seen in state-of-the-art stadiums with the latest digital infrastructure on display. LED monitors are punctuated throughout venues to keep fans informed and engaged, providing guidance to seats, restrooms and food stalls with the smallest queues. Clubs, too, can help drive further engagement with exclusive content delivered to their official app, offering behind-the-scenes access to players, in-game live updates and post-match commentary.
This type of feedback extends to the hospitality offer too. Many supporters rightly expect a best-in-class retail experience often via a club’s megastore and seek out the food and beverage options well ahead of kick-off. It is key for football operators to partner with facilities management (FM) specialists to ensure everything runs smoothly on matchday. CBRE has provided FM services to some of the UK’s leading football clubs and their stadiums for over 10 years, becoming the trusted partner of several prolific Premier League clubs.
Another rapidly evolving trend is the emergence of on-site fanzones, which is being seen across all tiers of the English football pyramid. By creating an experience that is unmatched elsewhere, clubs are increasing dwell times of fans, driving additional revenue streams and providing that holistic experience.
At Newcastle United Football Club (NUFC), Turner & Townsend project and cost managed the club’s fanzone, St. James’ STACK, presented by SELA, offering a mix of independent street food traders, a vibrant programme of events and live entertainment open to everyone seven days a week. Since opening in August 2024, fans continually come together all year around to enjoy the atmosphere whether it be with friends, colleagues or family alike. NUFC continues to use the space, and the opportunity it provides, to communicate direct to fans with board members having appeared on stage to take questions and provide club updates, since opening. This level of fan engagement, alongside the promotion of local businesses and artists, has seen positive uplifts for the Geordies.
Moving to the south of the country, and back to PAFC. The club has been working hand-in-hand with Argyle Community Trust, alongside Plymouth Council, to open its Foulston Park Hub. This new £20m development in Devonport, a traditionally deprived area of the city, has top billing as a new state-of-the-art community sports and wellbeing hub promising to transform health, fitness and social engagement locally, including youth and veteran support services.
It is clear, football operators, of any size and irrespective of league position, are in the rare and unique position of having a captive audience often passed through generations. This position should be further capitalised upon by creating a destination, and atmosphere, where fans want to spend prolonged periods of time all year round. The beautiful game is about to get even more beautiful for fans – underpinned by experience, engagement and participation, which can ultimately enhance commercial success.
Contact: Becky Stormer, Head of UK Sports Sector at CBRE – becky.stormer@cbre.com , +44 (0)7880 407 121 | www.cbre.com
Rob Woodley, Senior Consultant, Programme Strategy & Transformation at Turner & Townsend – robert.woodley@turntown.co.uk , +44 (0)7977 267 941 | www.turnerandtownsend.com
Images: CBRE & Turner & Townsend
