As the first of its kind in English football, a league agreement has now been reached between a league and a ticketing supplier. Starting this season, the Norwegian ticketing platform TicketCo is the preferred ticketing partner of The National League.
“We are excited to announce this partnership with The National League, which brings great benefits for both parties,” says TicketCo’s Vice President of Greenfield Sales, David Kenny.
“Through this partnership, all 72 clubs in the league will have access to an exclusive offering, with favourable prices as one part of the bargain and a smooth ticketing platform perfectly suited for football clubs of all sizes as the other.”
“The variety within The National League, concerning ticket volumes and stadium sizes, is significant, and I’m pleased to say that our platform will meet the needs of every club. We already have a similar partnership with The Professional Norwegian Football League, which includes 32 clubs with seating capacities ranging from 1,486 to 21,421. Our success in Norway has served as inspiration for the partnership we have now entered into with The National League,” says Mr. Kenny.
A Highly Adaptable Platform
He acknowledges a great variety in the demands of different National League clubs from their ticketing supplier and is eager to accommodate all requirements.
“This league includes everything from clubs with designated ticketing personnel to clubs where ticketing operations are part of the general manager’s responsibility. It also includes clubs that want to go 100% digital and others that prefer to stick to paper tickets and cash sales. There’s no right or wrong here, as we see it. Every club should, of course, define their own needs and wishes. Our job is to cater to those needs.”
The TicketCo platform is designed with extreme user-friendliness in mind, both for the clubs and their fans. Each club is free to utilise the features they find relevant for their defined needs and leave other features untouched.
“Our support team will help plot seat maps and set up each team’s user account according to their preferences. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in our system. It’s highly adaptable, intuitive, and self-serviced once it has been set up correctly,” says Mr. Kenny.
One of the National League clubs that have been using TicketCo for quite some time is Oxford City Football Club. Their Head of Fan Engagement and Media, Andrew Gate, hopes to see many more National League clubs become TicketCo clients in the upcoming season.
“Our experiences with TicketCo are very positive. Internally, our ticketing operations are much easier to handle now than before, and the overall look and feel is also completely different than it used to be.”
“I’d go so far as to say that our partnership with TicketCo has brought us into the 21st century,” he states.
After their promotion from Vanarama National League South to the National League in May, Mr. Gate has high expectations for the upcoming season.
“Our normal ticket sales last season were somewhere between 500 and 600 per match, but when we reached the play-offs, it skyrocketed, and we sold more than 2,000 for the semi-final. With matches against big names such as Oldham Athletic, Chesterfield, and Rochdale coming up this season, and considering that none of the clubs at tier five had an average below 1,000 last season, we are at the very least expecting doubled if not tripled ticket sales this season.”
One Click Away
At TicketCo, they also expect a boost in ticket sales as a result of the partnership with the National League. However, they understand that success won’t come overnight.
“This is a long-term partnership with the league, and every club within the league can decide for themselves if they want to switch to us or not. We will assist the league with their digital strategy, and we are ready to work with all 72 clubs in the league whenever they want to join us. We’re just one click away,” says TicketCo’s Vice President of Greenfield Sales, David Kenny.
