18 / 60
www.
ULSTERRUGBY
.com
16
COMMERCIAL UPDATE
SEASON TICKETS
The 16/17 season delivered another year
of growth as the Ulster faithful has reached
10,562, including 590 Junior season tickets.
Reputed to be one of the best stadiums for
atmosphere across Europe, it is little surprise that
season ticket holders stated their key reasons
for purchase are loyalty to the team, match night
experience and exclusive Season Ticket holder
benefits.
We have implemented some of the improvements
asked for in our Season Ticket holder survey such
as live music on match nights and additional bars,
which we have through the new Red Bus Bar
and the Prosecco Bar, both of which are proving
popular with fans.
Our aim is to continue to deliver exclusive benefits
and a unique match night experience. We have
hosted successful events such as ‘Meet the
Players’ evenings and ‘The Heineken Rugby
Club’. We hope to bring even more of this next
season.
ATTENDANCES
The unwavering loyalty of the fans resonates not
just through Ulster but across the PRO12 venues
as week in, week out, we see Ulster fans filling the
terraces and stands, home and away.
With an average attendance of 15,941 this
season, we sit just behind Leinster who top the
PRO12 attendance table (Leinster include Aviva
Stadium fixture of 40,527). We are conscious of
the fact that tournament scheduling has handed
us some testing kick off times, and we will
continue to state our preference for Friday night
games.
The early Saturday kick off times give us an
opportunity to welcome new audiences to the
stadium. The Clermont match saw an increase
in young families attending and also allowed
those with longer travel times to attend - the
result of this was a rocking atmosphere which
lasted until well after final whistle. The passion,
sportsmanship and Irish hospitality demonstrated
to the Clermont fans, that I then saw replicated
as we travelled to Clermont a week later,
encapsulates what lies at the heart of our club
and the fans should be very proud of this.
PROFESSIONAL GAME SPONSORSHIP
Sponsorship properties are again fully sold out
for the fourth consecutive year, with many of our
main sponsors such as Kingspan, Kukri Sports,
Bank of Ireland, BT and Go Power secured in
long-term deals. This time of year is always a
really busy period for myself and the commercial
team as we are currently renegotiating a
significant amount of other sponsorship and
partner contracts for the start of the 17/18
season.
Our portfolio is really healthy and with interest
from the marketplace we are in a strong position
that we can look to attract the best partners for
COMMERCIAL UPDATE