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QPR FC & Ticketmaster Sport deliver mobile ticketing first for UK sport

  • QPR FC offers fans in-app mobile ticketing in partnership with Ticketmaster Sport.
  • First UK football club to integrate new mobile ticketing technology that allows tickets to be transferred between operating systems.
  • New technology features a host of anti-tout mechanisms.
  • Improves stadium security by giving the club the ability to identify anonymous fans.

In partnership with Ticketmaster Sport, Queens Park Rangers have become the first UK football club to integrate the only in-app mobile ticketing solution that allows secure ticket transfers across operating systems, by implementing newly developed and innovative mobile ticketing technology from fan engagement specialists, InCrowd.

Both matchday and season tickets have been available in the official QPR app to those who opted into the trial phase in September 2018 and are now available to all fans attending games at Loftus Road via a personal in-app ticket wallet. Available to QPR fans for the last five home games, 12% of fans are now using the new ticket wallet to enable stress-free access to Loftus Road on match days.

Individuals that purchase multiple tickets can also ‘share’ tickets with other supporters via the official QPR app; a much more efficient and secure process than exchanging physical tickets. To activate their tickets securely, recipients are asked to download the official QPR app and register their details providing the club with the data required to know exactly who is in the stadium, improving safety creating more direct connections between QPR and their fans. Perhaps most importantly, tickets can be transferred between mobile devices and between operating systems; believed to be a first for mobile ticketing in UK sport.

The QPR ticket wallet also features a range of anti-tout mechanisms all of which are highly configurable according to a client’s specific requirements. These mechanisms include hidden barcodes, device locking, screenshot prevention and several other features that provide a sense of security to not only the fans but to the integrity of the club.

The ticket wallet technology created by InCrowd enables fans to enjoy a seamless, stress-free and engaging journey from their front door to their seat in the stadium. The official QPR app also provides fans with a set of team and venue specific features and exclusive content. This delivers an unrivalled match day experience for the fan and provides QPR with the ability to connect the ticket holder to a previously anonymous device, significantly improving their marketable database.

David Scriven, Digital Content Manager at QPR says, “The QPR Ticket Wallet has helped simplify the matchday for fans at Loftus Road. Not only can fans now access the latest news at the push of a button they can also access the stadium with one. By working closely with Ticketmaster and implementing this advanced, fan first technology from InCrowd we’ve been able to deliver a unique product in an efficient manner with significant upsides to supporter experience and the businesses digital objectives.”

“Digital ticketing is the future. It’s easy for fans, provides venues and events with more ways to engage with them and increases security for all,” says Ian Sanders, Director of Ticketmaster Sport “This integration with InCrowd demonstrates the ability Ticketmaster Sport has to work with partners in exciting and innovative ways. It’s been great to work on this project and we’re looking forward to rolling this out to many more of our clients in the near future.”

To benefit from this one-of-a-kind ticketing service please contact enquiries@incrowdsports.com

About Ticketmaster Sport – Ticketmaster Sport, a division of Ticketmaster International, is the leading technology and services partner for UK & International sport, providing ticketing services, venue technology, project management and marketing reach to the biggest and most exciting sport brands around the world – www.ticketmastersport.com

How the FA could work with clubs on Boxing Day to boost family attendance for women’s football

Boxing Day sport is a fantastic tradition. From Premier League football to Melbourne’s annual test cricket match, it is a true family occasion and has proven to generate well above average ticket sales. But what happens when your team is playing away? This is something experienced by many fans – left without a match to attend at a point in Christmas when, let’s face it, we probably all need something to get us off the sofa and away from Home Alone! So, what can be done to give those fans somewhere to go and something to do?

Thousands of empty seats and thousands of fans wanting to buy tickets
The Premier League designs a schedule to ensure away fans don’t have to travel too far on Boxing Day, but there are still thousands of fans missing out on attending sport with their families.

Ticketmaster’s State of Play research (http://www.ticketmastersport.com/stateofplay) shows that family time is a major reason for attending sporting events and Boxing Day stands out as one of the biggest on the UK calendar for family gatherings. At the same time, there were 350,000 seats left empty in stadia around the country because teams were playing away games. So, we have empty seats and families desperate to fill them. This is an open opportunity for rights holders.

Prime opportunity to promote women’s football

This is an opportunity to promote Women’s Football to a fanbase that would not normally attend. The FA could schedule local derby matches which would give greater context to the match whilst enabling both the home and away teams and spectators to easily attend the game.

Here is a list of matches that would have been possible in 2018; had these gone ahead it would not only have made for an effective promotional campaign for women’s football, but I am sure clubs would see good attendance figures.

  • Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates
  • Manchester City vs. Manchester United at the Etihad
  • Chelsea vs. QPR at Stamford Bridge
  • Everton vs. Liverpool at Goodison Park
  • Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Lewes at the Amex
  • Huddersfield Town vs. Bradford City at the John Smith’s Stadium
  • West Ham United vs. Millwall at the London Stadium
  • AFC Bournemouth vs. Southampton at the Vitality Stadium
  • Cardiff City vs. Swansea City at the Cardiff City Stadium

There are, of course, mis-matches above although I am not sure that matters (it doesn’t for the men’s FA cup). There could also be issues with policing these events when another football match is happening just down the road but this can be managed with scheduling across 26 and 27 December.

Rugby fans in the same situation

This “away day” problem for fans is even more apparent in rugby union. When Boxing Day falls mid-week, as has just done, it is not possible to schedule a match without cancelling one of the weekends either side to allow for proper player recovery time.

Other teams (e.g. non-league, schools, Barbarians) could step up and take on the annual Boxing Day slot at each of the 12 Premiership Rugby grounds. It would not take much for this to become part of the Christmas holiday routine for rugby loving families; perhaps something for CVC to consider as part of their new investment in the sport.

Marketing and fan experience funding

For both of these examples, ticketing is going to be the greatest revenue stream for those involved and costs will be manageable without the larger player fees to consider. Focusing on marketing the event well and investment into the fan experience will be crucial in creating an annual, much anticipated event for football and rugby fans.

Furthermore, without this match being confined by the usual playing conditions or regulations (these matches would not be part of the Women’s Super League for example) they could involve star players drafted in from the US leagues to provide an additional layer of interest for fans. It is also an excellent time to involve charity initiatives as Sunderland have done so successfully with their recent “Gift of Football” campaign. There are a multitude of possibilities!

Christmas time is all about bringing people together after all. I love Boxing Day sport and think there there is huge potential for organisations and clubs to promote women’s sport, provide opportunities for lower league teams and reach out to communities around the UK.

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The sports industry is changing & at InCrowd, we help our clients adapt & evolve. Using technology and insight, we give rights holders & their commercial partners the power to deliver personalised content and experiences, for every fan.

Find out more at www.incrowdsports.com

InCrowd announced as an Agency Of The Year finalist in the Football Business Awards 2018

We are proud to be have been shortlisted for the Football Business Awards 2018.

The Agency Of The Year Award recognises the overall commitment to and understanding of football and the judges were looking for creativity, insight and clearly defined & successful client outcomes. Operating since November 2015, InCrowd have had an exceptional third year of growth and opportunity.

The InCrowd fan engagement platform offers exciting new activation opportunities for brands. Sky Sports and Sky Bet partnered with InCrowd to develop a cross platform, interactive World Cup predictor game, Road To Moscow, powered by FanScore. The game generated 2.6million predictions between the end of the 2017/2018 regular season and the start of the World Cup. 

Sky Sports Road To Moscow

Using the platform, Birmingham City FC were able to integrate Foster’s as the official Man of the Match vote sponsor, using InCrowd’s push notification and digital voucher system to incentivise participation.

Also this year, InCrowd formed the first sports app supplier partnership in the UK with Ticketmaster allowing rights holders to present their fans with a revolutionary new ticketing solution, vastly improving their match day experience whilst capturing previously unattainable fan data. 

We launched official clubs apps for Premier League side Burnley FC and championship team Leeds United FC who placed a priority on live streaming, in line with their continued focus on fan engagement. InCrowd also launched the first multi-lingual UK official football club app with Cardiff City FC giving Cardiff direct access to their extended international audience.

InCrowd are also able to offer solutions for fan engagement within football stadiums, by building and launching digital display software InCrowd Cast, giving the rights holders the ability to showcase live content on  their LED perimeter boards. Notably, InCrowd partnered with LED perimeter board supplier, Stellavista to power their hardware within the American Express Community Stadium, home of Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate InCrowd clients and award nominees Brighton & Hove Albion FC, Aston Villa FC, Derby Country FC, Cardiff and Huddersfield Town FC. We are proud to work with you as you continue to inspire and engage your fans.

InCrowd have their fingers firmly crossed for the evening of the 22nd November 2018 when the winners will be announced at City Central at the HAC, in London. Congratulations to our Agency Of The Year shortlist companions on their incredible work this year; we look forward to celebrating together in November. The full shortlists for the Football Business Awards 2018 can be found here.

To find out more about how we can work together, contact us now: enquries@incrowdsports.com

Sky Sports Road To Moscow

InCrowd partner with Sky Sports to create pre-tournament “Road To Moscow” world cup predictor game

Sky Sports and InCrowd have developed an interactive world cup predictor game to run between the end of the domestic season and beginning of the world cup to drive pre-tournament excitement and anticipation levels.

http://www.skysports.com/roadtomoscow
App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-sports-road-to-moscow/id1380734568?mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.moscow

Super 6 is part of the match day experience for fans up and down the country and with the regular season finishing on Sunday, Sky Sports needed to maintain fan engagement for the build up to the world cup in June. The “Road To Moscow” Predictor will allow fans make predictions and compete in mini-leagues, as well as going up against the panelists from Sky Sports Soccer Saturday who are also participating in the game. The game will also be offering a £5,000 prize to the winner with the most correct predictions.

InCrowd’s John O’Connor says “The world cup is the biggest and most exciting sporting event on the planet. The Road to Moscow game we have developed with Sky Sports will enhance the event by giving fans an opportunity to test their predictive skills against each stage of the tournament and against other fans, driving engagement and giving the audience the chance to be a part of every single game.”

The game asks to fan to make predictions for the various stages of the month-long tournament, initially identifying the group winners and runners up, before selecting the victor in each game in the knock-out stages from the round of 16 through to the final. These predictions create a “Road To Moscow” wheel chart, unique to that fan, that can be shared via social media, extending the reach of the game and encouraging further participation from an even broader audience.

Fans will be able to download the app from the App Store and Google Play and will also have the opportunity to play via the Sky Sports and Sporting Life websites. SkyBet will be the advertising partner for the game and Sky Sports have also worked closely with their partner to incorporate promotion of “Road To Moscow” within the SkyBet app.

David Gibbs, Digital Director at Sky Sports says, “Sky Sports and SkyBet are excited about this new venture with InCrowd and the opportunities it presents in the development of other pre-tournament games around future marquee sporting events, driving awareness and actively encouraging audience engagement and participation.”

InCrowd work with some of the biggest names in the sports industry. This includes Premiership Rugby, 16 individual clubs, Toyota, Rugby Football League, Heineken and the ICC. To find out more information on InCrowd, please visit the website www.incrowdsports.com or contact now via enquiries@incrowdsports.com.

Leeds United FC focus on fan engagement with their official app built by InCrowd

Leeds United FC are continuing their focus on fan engagement with the ongoing success of their official LUTV mobile app in partnership with InCrowd, available to download on the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.

LUFC fans have access to a new two-way channel between themselves and and the club. The Official LUTV mobile app enables fans to engage with a host of different features no matter where they are.

Fan features include:

  • Full LUTV including highlights, interviews, features and more. Subscriptions are available to be purchased here.
  • Once logged in, UK subscribers will be able to access live audio commentary, while international users can watch the full match.
  • All the latest news & breaking news supported by the InCrowd push notification system.
  • A full 2017/18 campaign fixtures & results list.
  • Live league tables.
  • Official player & club Twitter account feeds .
  • Integrates official club social media accounts.
  • Access to ticket purchasing and merchandise.

“From a media perspective, providing content to our fans was one of our biggest challenges. However, this has been a smooth process as a result of the perfect cooperation between Leeds United FC and InCrowd.” Emanuele Montoneri, Head of Media at Leeds United FC.

What does this mean for the club?

The LUTV app currently holds a 4.5/5 rating across both the Apple and Google Play app stores. Furthermore, the app has over 170 five-star reviews. From the point of view of the club, Leeds United will now be able to:

  • Segment, target and send personalised messages to their fans using the powerful InCrowd push notification system.
  • Collect, grow and utilise rich behavioural and location based fan data.
  • Market new sponsorship inventory to existing and future commercial partners.
  • Showcase official club content on a much improved digital platform to fans around the world.

“We are extremely proud to be in partnership with one of the most prestigious football clubs in the UK. This new venture with LUFC means InCrowd now work with over 20 rights holders across four sports.’ Aidan Cooney, CEO of InCrowd.

Please check InCrowd’s and Leeds United’s Twitter feeds twitter.com/InCrowd_Sports and twitter.com/lufc for news of further updates to the official Leeds United app or get in touch via Enquiries@incrowdsports.com

About InCrowd

InCrowd provide a fan engagement & sponsorship activation platform. Our understanding of the avid and emotional mindset of a fan is combined with in-depth data analysis and ground-breaking digital technology to offer rights holders and brands a unique opportunity to reach out to sports fans in the moments that really matter. Many of the world‘s top rights holders & brands use InCrowd’s fan marketing platform to collect more fan data, sell more tickets and increase sponsorship revenue. We also help sponsors connect with new customers and convert fan interaction into revenue & advocacy. Find out more – www.incrowdsports.com

 

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