Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

The sponsorship portfolio remains healthy with many sponsors such as Kingspan, Kukri Sports, Bank of Ireland, BT and Go Power in multi-year deals and there is significant interest from the marketplace for new sponsorships coming up for the season ahead. Grassroots sponsors are thriving with some noticeable engagement such as Danske Bank who are in their twelfth year of sponsorship of the Schools Cup. Other partners are delivering great initiatives such as Ulster Carpets with their ‘Club of the Month’ award and the ‘Community Champions Award’ sponsored by SONI which recognises volunteers. APPOINTMENTS AND REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS Congratulations go to Rory Best who captained the Irish team to a first test match win in South Africa, a first ever win against the All Blacks and who earned his 100th cap for Ireland during the 2016 Autumn Series. Congratulations also go to the other Ulster players who represented Ireland during the 2016/17 season: Rory Best, Iain Henderson, Jared Payne, Paddy Jackson, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall and Sean Reidy, and to Ilse van Staden, Claire McLaughlin, Jemma Jackson and Nikki Caughey, who were all involved in the Ireland Women’s Six Nations squad. For the upcoming tour to New Zealand Rory Best, Iain Henderson and Jared Payne have been selected for the British and Irish Lions. Paddy Jackson and Luke Marshall will travel with Ireland to Japan, where they will be joined by two of the rising stars of Ulster Rugby, the uncapped Kieran Treadwell and Jacob Stockdale. We wish them every success in the weeks ahead. Our congratulations are also due to all those players, both male and female, who have represented Ireland at other levels during the season.

coaches Robert Ford and Michael Ferguson, all in their first season with the Juniors, and of course to team manager Colin Hunter on a fantastic effort. You have set the bar very high gentlemen. Take that as your challenge for the seasons ahead. Well done! COMMERCIAL AND MARKETING REPORT The 2016/17 season has once again delivered a steady growth in both commercial revenues and fan engagement. Whilst no doubt intrinsically linked to on field performance as was demonstrated by the decline in numbers at the home European matches this season, once fans viewed the team as being out of the competition, the overall numbers are very strong with commercial revenues hitting above target. The Pro12 attendance leads the way in this respect with Ulster Rugby having the second highest average attendance in the Pro12, behind only Leinster Rugby who have the benefit of an Aviva match with a capacity of 50,000. The average attendance for Pro12 matches this season at Kingspan Stadium was 15,602 which is a new attendance record and shows the value that fans put in the Pro12 Championship. The event led marketing that captures these attendances is at the fore-front of this success as the marketing team delivers a season-long event plan to increase purchasers in key areas for us, such as family and event goers. Some of the great match-night experiences that have captured fans attention have been the introduction of the ‘Big Red Bar Bus’, the new ‘Fizz Bar’ and the unique events such as the Shane Todd comedy events held pre-match in the Heineken Quarter. This success has been realised through our shortlisting for the Northern Ireland Tourism Best Event Experience award. Season ticket numbers are 10,562 which includes 590 junior season ticket holders. Season ticket holders stated their key reasons for purchase were loyalty to the team, match-night experience and exclusive benefits delivered to them. 30

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH ANNUAL REPORT & STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2016/17

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