This weekend I went a bit tech crazy (for me anyway!) and invested in the ‘must have’ apple product of the moment. The iPad.
The platform has so much potential within sport as people take advantage of the apps used on iPhones on an easier to read, bigger tablet format.
The most obvious for me is one that has proved a headache for so many years within sport. How to make match day information available to those who come to the game in a format they like without incurring huge costs.
We all love the match day programme and it has been around for many decades. But it has become less relevant in times where we are used to getting what we want at the touch of a button.
Clubs/event organisers have to deal with print deadlines and costs, not to mention the wastage at the end of the game. You cannot use them again and become basically worthless within a couple of hours. Not a great business model.
Now we are seeing clubs take advantage of the new tablets coming out, primarily the iPad. Having flicked through the apps available in the sports sector it is encouraging to see English teams testing the water.
They include football teams Birmingham City, Reading FC and West Brom plus number of Rugby teams have also become involved with notables being Harlequins (RU and RL), Saracens and Wasps.
I can see why clubs from the two biggest sports in the country are trialling the system though potentially the demographic will be better suited to the Rugby Union goer.
It is an exciting time with so many possibilities. Many will be waiting to hear how the pioneers are doing and how much money they are making (or not) before dipping their toes in.
What cannot be denied is that this is something that is going to happen more and more. With the Samsung Galaxy tablet and RIM launching their own competitor to the iPad they will become common place in the not too distant future.
The match day programme in my mind is perfect for this platform. It reduces printing costs and times for the clubs and allows them to be so much more up-to-date. Fans get them on demand so they can be reading them on the train to the game as well as just when in the stadium.
Hospitality could take advantage and have iPad points within the rooms where people can have a read of the programme. For an initial investment they can help make the experience that little bit better for everyone.
Will it be profitable? Will it cut time/costs? What do you think?
Interesting posting, you often prepare the most practical subjects & The 21st Centrury (R)evolution of the Match Day Programme | UKSN
is simply no exception
Why would you take the iPad or any other tablet to the match!!! The idea behind having a digital copy is surely for the fans who like to look at the programme, but do not get to go to the match!!! Fans would like to collect them, esp international fans. Think most of the people totally missed the point here, there is room for both paper and digital copy.
It’s not a bad idea, but should only be made available in addition to the printed programme, not instead of. You talk as if programmes in their current format are a financial headache for clubs what with the printing costs, but those deductions are all made up for and then some in the selling of the programme.
In general life, I am anything but a traditionalist – and although the football programme is a long-standing tradition, that it not the reason why I think they should remain as they are. Rather, they still have a use (unlike, say, the royal family – which is a tradition we could do without. Can’t we just have an iPad queen, instead?) for people who don’t have tablets – which by the way, far outweighs those that do. Perhaps in future most of us will own one, like mobile phones, but even so, most would rather not take such a valuable device to a football match every single week.
Finally, a nod to the collectors of football programmes – myself included. (Can you nod to yourself?) If you still think they should be done away with in the future, give Dave Roberts’ fabulous book ’32 Programmes’ a read, and I'm sure your mind will be changed.
I agree that I can’t see people bringing tablet devices to games and that one would have to think that clubs would make a fair amount of money through print advertising in the MDP, however there are other opportunities that clubs could look into.
Some thoughts off the top of my head:
1. Develop smartphone app that has dynamic matchday content plus extras that you could charge for. Or give away for free and subsidise through sponsorships or adveritisements.
2. Integrate digital formats in the print publication to bring extra content to those withsmart phones. Think augmented realty, or QR codes. Imagine pointing your phone at the program and the players/squad headshots come up with some stats.
For example check out this video and contextualise it to sport:
Perhaps the iPad is too big and valuable for the fan in the stands to carry, but the new generation of intermediate-sized smartphones (such as the HTC Desire HD and the Samsung Galaxy, if perhaps not the tablet model) are pointing the way.
I understand the reservations of Max and Tony on revenues, but since the majority of the profit from match day programmes comes from ads the loss of the £4-odd cover price is not such a factor when you take into account production costs and wastage. An app is much more targeted (in that there is no wastage) and you can still charge for it. At the moment paper costs are going through the roof – in the region of 10 per cent a month – and this will eventually drive up the cover price of programmes beyond the price point that most fans are willing to pay.
The ongoing issue with apps, really, is the proliferation of platforms. Obviously, producing programmes in iOS format is a no-brainer. Android? Yes. Windows? Maybe. RIM? Probably not. RIM’s OS is hopelessly outdated and if its attempt to take on the iPad is as laughably poor as its iPhone rival (the unlamented BlackBerry Storm), RIM runs the risk of being the Betamax of the smartphone era. Most business people have jumped ship to the iPhone; the only people buying BlackBerries nowadays are cash-strapped teenagers who want to use the Messenger service…
Thanks for comments, has certainly stirred some emotions on the subject. I agree about the taking of an iPad to the game but for those who are in hospitality, an armchair fan or wants to look before heading to a game it is ideal.
The issue for programmes is print costs, time and wastage. The concentration here has also been on football. Other sports and events the iPad and iPhone would be even more relevant and help bring in an extra revenue source with no print run to worry about.
Be interesting to see how the sports clubs who have used it so far are finding it and who are the ones it is popular with. It is early days but one route that has some potential IMO.
Dan
I would recommend sticking with the 'traditional' programme which is the 'real' fan's proof of attendance – but make very clear reference to 'extra' bonus content for the ipad 'gang' and monitor progress. The printed programme is one of the few money makers for most clubs – easy to sell and chock full of paying sponsors.
I do agree that there is a big opportunity for apps on ipad and other tablets but think this is bigger for fans who can't come along to the game. Can't see fans taking their ipad along with them. Also, i do think you underestimate fans love for the traditional programme flick pre kick off and on the way home. I see it more as an additional market than replacing existing.
Dan good idea in principal, but firstly cant see fans taking IPADs to footy, and secondly the big clubs would never go for it as they probably sell programmes at £4 each to approx 40% of their crowds, they never print hundreds of thousands, rule of thumb for their print runs are 66% of capacity, so the big clubs do make some serious money from them.
they could always charge for the iPad content and production cost is virtually the same whether one or a thousand
Agree that, in theory, the MDP would be well suited to ipad but in practice I'm not sure i'd ever risk taking mine to a football match (in particular the pub before/afterwards). Although, as you've mentioned, hospitality may be an exception to this. I'm sure NGB, club and team apps will become increasingly common and will change the way fans access information on a daily basis, but i think dynamic matchday content is better suited to smartphones which a large percentage of fans will be using as a matter of course.