Thousands of Premier League fans will benefit from cheaper away match tickets when watching their side play Southampton FC courtesy of the Saint’s main sponsor Virgin Media.
The media giant has partnered with the Footballer Supporters’ Federation (FSF) on its ‘£20 is Plenty’ campaign by giving all visiting fans a £10 subsidy to every one of Southampton 19 home games: thus bringing down the price of away fan tickets at St Mary’s to £20.
The FSF tie-up sees the multimedia company support its ‘£20s Plenty’ campaign by capping ticket prices for travelling fans at £20 from Southampton’s 13 August match against Watford onwards.
That is £10 less than the standard £30 ticket price announced by the Premier League in March.
The mechanic sees Virgin Media distributing £10 refund vouchers to away fans in branded Virgin Media envelopes at the stadium on match day.
This initiative becomes a core pillar in Virgin Media’s 2016/17 season activation programme as Southampton FC’s main (and shirt) sponsor.
The move is part of Virgin Media’s sponsorship strategy of ‘putting fans at the heart of the game’.
‘We want our presence in football to be grounded in reality and focused on the people who turn out week in, week out whether they are home or away fans. We are passionate about the home team, but we also care about the away experience. So we wanted to raise our credibility in football and take the side of the fan,’ trumpets Virgin Media head of advertising and sponsorship Ellie Tory Norman.
‘Football only exists because of the fans and we believe that fans should be at the heart of football,’ adds Virgin Media CMO Kerris Bright.
‘We hope by taking this step we set a good example in football for other clubs and sponsors to follow. Importantly, capping tickets at £20 to St Mary’s makes it affordable for fans travelling to support their team away from home. We are helping to enact change for the good of fans so they can get a fairer deal.’
It shows a football brand sponsor genuinely listening to the opinions and challenges of fans and follows the fan rallies of recent months which have aimed to clubs Premier League club ticket prices.
Indeed, in February, as well as its ‘£20s Plenty’ campaign. the FSF urged all its members to pressure and lobby clubs to cap all away tickets at £30 for the next three seasons.
Kevin Miles, the FSF chief executive believes Virgin Media’s campaign will go some way to winning over football fans across the league.
‘Premier League football is immensely popular across the globe and the contribution of fans is central to that. Nobody wants to watch a game played out in front of empty stands. Away fans in particular bring noise and colour to grounds, adding to the spectacle immeasurably. But following your side on the road can be expensive and, despite football being wealthy we believe very little of it is used to reduce costs for match-goers,” says Miles.
‘Our partnership with Virgin Media shows this doesn’t have to be the case – there are innovative ways for sponsors to engage and support match-going fans and Virgin Media are at the forefront of this. Tens of thousands of the most loyal fans will receive cheaper tickets next season thanks to this partnership which will also serve to highlight the obstacles facing travelling fans and reinforce the message that ‘Twenty’s Plenty’.’
The initiative has received plenty of positive and supportive feedback, comment and coverage from the mainstream press and the fan-led media too.
Thank you @virginmedia for subsidising the @boro away tickets for Southampton to £20 @twentys_plenty campaign working on this #boro pic.twitter.com/WVwv2evF8P
— David Tomlinson (@Smoggy_Dave) November 29, 2016
@SouthamptonFC @virginmedia @twentys_plenty thanks for the £10 back for the @SunderlandAFC game #twentysplenty pic.twitter.com/IYTCickXka
— andrew dixon (@andy_d_84) August 27, 2016
Activative Comment:
While other brands and football team sponsors have offered occasional, one-off single game away fan travel and/or subsidies as part of various initiatives and campaigns, Virgin Media’s initiative covers every match of the season and is thus one of the biggest away fan gestures from any Premier League sponsor.
We love this idea and the strategy behind it!
It is a particularly clever way to turn a single club sponsorship into a nationwide campaign.
This fan-focused disruptive and original initiative from Virgin Media can also be seen as something of a challenge to rivals and Premier League official broadcasters BT Sport and Sky Sport.
Indeed, Virgin Media has clearly thought about BT and Sky’s position in the marketplace and about Virgin parent brand being built on accessibility and inclusivity.
Plus, in order to ensure the sponsor backs Southampton supporters too (and avoid any potential backlash against the away fan benefits) it rolled out a series of home fan initiatives earlier in the season including a host of loyal Saints fan rewards from discounted season tickets
to free drinks for 27,000 Saints fans on Virgin Media at the first home game of the season,
plus a convoy of 27 free coaches to take fans to the club’s first Friday night clash with Manchester United on 19 August, to improve accessibility and benefit Southampton’s own travelling support.
Virgin Media believes its sponsorship of Southampton is a long-term strategy ‘the true value of which will be realised by maintaining a conversation with fans (and potential customers) beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch’.
Of course, it also helps in terms of authenticity, that Virgin’s heritage as a brand is all about ‘disruption’ and ‘challenging’ the status quo and the incumbents.
Will any other Premier League sponsor take up the mantle and copy/adapt a similar approach to benefit away fans?
Links:
Virgin Media
https://twitter.com/virginmedia
https://www.youtube.com/user/virginmedia
https://www.facebook.com/virginmedia
Southampton FC
