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Background & Objectives

When the SSE Arena, Belfast introduced their venue app in 2015, the Arena’s resident sports team, The Belfast Giants, saw the opportunity to engage fans and drive revenue through mobile.

The main objectives for the new digital platform were:

Drive App Downloads and User Registration

Get Fans Into the Arena Earlier on Match Days

Reward Loyal Fans and Increase Revenue

Driving Mobile App Downloads

Using a range of marketing and operational tactics, the Belfast Giants saw huge success. The top three drivers of app downloads were:

Social Media

Taking advantage of their 100k followers, the team successfully used Facebook and Twitter to promote the app. Venue survey results showed that 24% of people who downloaded the app found out about it through social media.

Communication

The use of newsletters, emails and season ticket holder communications further enticed fans to download and benefit from the app

Fan Referrals

One of the biggest drivers of downloads of the app was fan-to-fan referral. Over 28% of users stated they found out about the app from a friend.

To make this project a success, Realife Tech integrated the existing venue systems consisting of:

  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • Tottenham Hotspur

Rewarding the Most Loyal Fans

The most loyal fans to any sports team are their season ticket holders. To give a sense of exclusivity and a tangible ‘value add’ to these users, Realife Tech created a section of the app that is only accessible by entering a Belfast Giants season ticket number.

Get Fans Into the Arena Earlier

To encourage fans to attend the venue pre-match, the team created an offer called ‘The Ice Breaker’ discount. Accessible via in-app purchases only, the deal gives 10% off food and drinks for the hour before the game for standard ticket holders, and 20% for season ticket holders. Realife Tech tools then identified the fans’ whereabouts which enabled the Arena’s marketing team to trigger personalised push notifications to fans spending time near the arena. The Belfast Giants used this to attract fans to drink and eat in the Arena, rather than opting to visit nearby bars before each game.

The Results

70% App Registration Rate

3,000% Uplift in Season Ticket Holder Spend

£2,123 Highest Individual Season Ticket Holder Spend

In Their Own Words:

“The Realife Tech platform has been an absolute game changer for the Giants’ fan experience. Through the platform, we have been able to segment and reward our most valued fans, whilst also increasing customer spend on game days.”

– Clara Killen, Digital Development Manager at the Odyssey Trust

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