New Research from Turnkey Intelligence Shows Key Challenges Facing UK Football Organisers — Rugby More Highly Ranked

A recent study by Turnkey Intelligence, a leading market research firm serving the global sports industry, has shed light on numerous pain points that football fans in the UK experience when attending matches. Fan ratings of the food and beverage experience and venue entry and exit in particular fall short of other sports in the UK and in comparison to other countries.

‘Football continues to deliver top-class entertainment at all levels in the UK. Some clubs are investing heavily in spectator experience, as we’ve seen in the very positive reaction to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, our research shows widespread resentment among football fans who feel shortchanged by their match day experience in the face of spiralling ticket prices,’ said Haynes Hendrickson, general manager at Turnkey Intelligence.

As part of the launch of the company’s London-based operations, Turnkey Intelligence commissioned widespread research comparing fan experience within and across countries and across a number of sports, including football, rugby, American football, basketball, golf, tennis, and motor sports.

Elsewhere in the UK, the research finds rugby fans giving their sport top marks — most notably in ‘value for money’ — and a cross-country comparison shows the fan experience for football in the UK trailing that of American football in the US.

As the end of the season approaches, the report suggests clubs should be making significant improvements across the match day experience to stay competitive with other entertainment options. UK football fans expect the experience to deliver on multiple elements of value, including food and drink options and family-friendly entertainment beyond the match itself.

For this study, Turnkey Intelligence surveyed sports fans aged 16–64 from the UK, US, Brazil, and China about their live event experiences across the above-referenced sports. The findings highlight several ways that sports organisations can optimise their events to improve the fan experience and, ultimately, commercial success. Access the full report here.

About Turnkey Intelligence:

Established in 1996, Turnkey Intelligence is a business intelligence company in the sports industry, offering best-in-class research and advisory services to sports leagues, teams, venues, and brands. Turnkey’s areas of expertise include sponsorship measurement and evaluation, advertising effectiveness, customer experience management, brand tracking, pricing optimisation, customer segmentation, and more. Turnkey launched its London office in January 2019 to serve clients in the European sports industry. Turnkey Intelligence, along with its sister companies MarketCast, Insight Strategy Group, and Fizziology, is a business unit of MarketCast Group, a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York.

SOURCE Turnkey Intelligence