Jamie Tabor opened the meeting by welcoming all the attendees and conveying apologies.
Susan Whelan introduced Matt Bray (Community Trust Manager), Sam Chambers (Multi-media Manager), Esther Walker (PA) and Dan Ayers of the digital sports consultancy, Seven League. She explained that the club’s management team had been strengthened with the addition of three new directors whom she introduced as:
- Caroline McGrory who joins the Club as General Counsel from Petronas Mercedes in the equally dynamic industry of Formula One motorsports where she held the position of Director of Legal and Commercial Affairs;
- Mags Mernagh, Director of Estates and Infrastructure, who brings to LCFC a wealth of project and infrastructure experience gained at Manchester City and Leicester City Council and who will develop the club’s development projects with the new training ground and site expansion adjacent to the stadium;
- Jonathan Gregory, Commercial Director, who has a background in sports, theatre, the Football Association, Wembley, Puma and Fulham Football Club.
SW gave an overview of the club’s activities, outlining the work that was underway on finalising the infrastructure for next season, website development and a ticketing system. She highlighted the value of feedback from Your 90 Minutes regarding the concourse work.
Agenda Items from FCC Members
A. Jamie Tabor presented the answers to questions put forward by FCC members at the previous meeting:-
1. Champions League games – 60 tickets went uncollected in Brugge, 121 in Copenhagen and 232 in Porto. The uptake by season ticket holders for the 3-game package was over 17,000.
2. Screen font size – Sam Chambers explained that the font size has been enlarged and made bolder but it can be further increased if necessary. No further feedback was received from supporters further to the font size being increased and made bold, so it was taken that this issue is now resolved.
3. Supporter tours of concourse artwork – the final piece of street artwork was completed in the last week of January. The Club is now waiting for the artists’ diaries and warmer weather to carry out the tours; final works will be completed in March/April. Due to the demand of normal stadium tours (max 4 per day), end of season fixtures, play-on-pitch events and close-season stadium maintenance, no concourse tours have been carried out as yet. The concourse tours are planned to commence once the 2017/18 season kicks-off.
B. Agenda items for today’s meeting:-
1. Fan Cam
At present it isn’t possible to show Filbert Fox animation on Fan Cam but the Club will include it in upgrades in the summer.
Fan Cam focus on supporters celebrating a birthday and being presented with a goodie bag – the Club currently does an “in the crowd” for special birthdays. Doing this specifically on the Fan Cam has previously been complicated by the fact that supporters have not been in their seats. This will also be reviewed in the summer to enhance the fan experience.
2. Using Vouchers at away games
LCFC pays for these vouchers but have to get approval from the home clubs before carrying out any away game activities. They can be used at half-time. The Club is reviewing potential giveaways for next season, including the distribution of food and drink vouchers. The issue of food and drink items not being available before kick-off and at half-time at away clubs, is recognised by LCFC, and we are trying to work closer with opposition Clubs to ensure that provision is made for enough food and drink items to be made available for all supporters at any future potential voucher giveaways.
3. Priority Points for Games
This complex issue was raised at the recent ‘Your 90 Minutes’ event. Many supporters raised concerns over the growing difficulty for people gaining access to Away tickets, disadvantaging the non-season ticket holders. Denise Midgley expressed her feeling regarding supporters with high priority points who get tickets for all away games but sell them on.
Priority points will continue for next season with 50 points being added to those who have renewed. The points criteria will increase at the start of the season.
4. Photos with the Premier League Trophy
Over the last four months the Premier League trophy has been seen at various events by 64,000 people. The Club held an event in the City Fanstore with the trophy; a similar event took place in the City Fanstore over the spring half-term, between 15 and 19 February. The trophy has been taken to a wide number of schools this season, to Junior Fox Member events, Diwali celebrations, grass-root clubs. It was also present at the ‘Your 90 Minutes’ forum in January. The trophy is made available where possible during Stadium Tours.
A total of 316,078 people across Leicestershire had the opportunity to see the Premier League trophy both at King Power stadium and during visits to schools and junior football clubs, including
19,500 students during visits to 50 county schools
4,000 young players during visits to 15 junior football clubs
The grand finale was a large, free photo session at King Power Stadium when over 2,000 people took their photos with the trophy.
5. Wifi and Mobile Access within King Power Stadium
The Club has looked at this seriously for some time. Some models are commercially driven, meaning that the wifi supplier takes revenue from the users; the Club doesn’t feel this is appropriate and is looking at a robust solution owned or hired by the Club. Any system will require considerable testing which the Club is undertaking.
6. Half-time queues within the concourses
The average transaction time is 35 seconds and mobile units are also provided in the East Stand. Footfall is also a factor. Around 70 new beer taps have replaced Singla bottles.
Simon Grindrod pointed out that Singla barrels, which at 30 litres are much smaller than other brands, need to be changed more frequently. He added that the mobile option isn’t popular. He said the worst queues were in the 45 minutes prior to kick-off, particularly in West Stand, Gates 6-12. He asked whether another circuit could be installed. Richard Lymbery said Compass was continuing to explore options but cellars were a problem.
Post-meeting follow-up: the transactions reports from the Singha bar mentioned show a transaction took place approximately every minute during the trading period until kick-off. There is no record of a 20-minute break that would indicate a barrel change.
C. Your 90 Minutes
Stuart Johncock explained that each session of Your 90 Minutes brings together a panel of randomly selected supporters to discuss a specific topic. He summarised the key points of the discussion on the Digital Review:
1. Most of the panel thought the 2016/17 Season Ticket campaign represented the Club and linked well with the supporters; they liked the personal touch in the form of a letter from the Chairman. They felt, however, that communications should be sent out earlier and the campaign should include hard copies which should be prioritised, eg for senior citizens.
2. The Club recognises there are some issues with the digital communications and will review for the 2017/18 Season Ticket campaign.
During the January ‘Your 90 Minutes’ with Season Ticket Holders, a number of points were raised regarding the way certain groups of communicated to (i.e. over 60s without an email address/regular access to the internet). As a result, a physical brochure was posted to all non-direct debit 60+ STHs AND those without an email address on the system, AND those who’s initial ‘launch’ email was suppressed.
Total brochures sent: 4924
In addition, all supporters on the Direct Debit Scheme received a letter, regardless.
3. The panel discussed benefits for Season Ticket Holders, with the Club looking to see how many Season Ticket Holders use the benefits available and how often. During the January ‘Your 90 Minutes’ meeting, Season Ticket Holders were asked for their thoughts on the introduction of a Loyalty Reward Scheme, where supporters accumulate points based on their activity and interactions with the Club, which are then redeemable against retail purchases or ‘money can’t buy experiences’.
Feedback from supporters was very positive and supporters were very welcoming to the idea. They would like to see rewards given to supporters on their birthdays too.
4. The Club put forward the idea of launching a loyalty scheme in place of the 10% discount currently offered. The scheme received positive feedback. Stuart Johncock advised that the Club has introduced a loyalty system whereby points can be earned by accessing the website. The launch date is yet to be agreed but will be in July, once the software and new websites are up and running. The Club will develop a full breakdown of how points can be earned and redeemed.
5. The Club asked Season Ticket Holders if they would be interested in a resale process if they are unable to attend a match. Options similar to StubHub or an in-house system were discussed. During the January ‘Your 90 Minutes’ meeting, supporters were also asked for their thoughts. It was discussed that supporters would like to be able to give their season ticket to friends and family if they are unable to attend; doing this through the club would enable them to gain points.
Resale platform will be in place with the final elements internally to be discussed such as how much the supporter will get back and if the club will charge them a fee to do this.
Cliff Ginnetta asked if the resale process could be introduced for the game at Arsenal. The Club explained that we are unable to put away tickets on a resale platform due to the restrictions of the host clubs as these tickets are owned by the respective clubs. Most current schemes don’t cover away tickets.
James Challinor asked whether the Club preferred an in-house re-sale system. Jamie Tabor replied that the Club does prefer an in-house system and part of the digital project will allow for friends and family to benefit from the repurchase of season tickets. He explained that the Club prefers to see occupied seats which generate a better atmosphere. A legitimate ticket exchange system is the answer. An In-house resale system will be in place, max of 4 times to use it a season
These minutes are issued by LCFC
Part two of the minutes will be published tomorrow and covers the new LCFC website and questions raised under AOB by attendees