Pitchero Webmaster Blog

6 things your club website can do now to boost your sports club's revenue

Written by Will Hinch | Apr 10, 2017 3:01:00 PM

For local community clubs, establishing revenue streams is one of the most difficult yet vital processes you’ll be faced with.

Thankfully, there are actually a number of effective features in your Pitchero club website that can help give a boost to your club’s coffers – some of which you may not have considered before.

1. Setup an online payment

If your club hasn’t already ditched the old-hat methods of chasing players for match fees and handling a mountain of hand-written IOUs, online payments is a quick and simple reality that will instantly boost club revenue.

Setting up a payment on your Pitchero site is easy and can help your club collect yearly subs, match fees, tickets for a club event, and pretty much everything that requires a payment at your club. Plus, every club website created with Pitchero comes with the online payments feature as standard with no startup costs. 

Case Study: Radcliffe Borough FC use their Pitchero site to collect membership fees, nearly all of which has been paid securely online through one of our payments gateways GoCardless (you can also collect payments through Stipe if you prefer).
 

This one centralised system makes it a whole load easier to submit, track and ultimately collect payments from club members – giving your club the revenue it needs.

2. Recruit some new members

To collect these various payments, you need members! Members are the lifeblood of your club, and generating a steady stream of new members will result in a timely increase in revenue.

Thankfully, a cost-effective recruitment tool is right at your fingertips. The club website acts as the hub of your club’s online presence, and any potential new members are likely to head straight online to find out more.

Case Study: Chinnor RFC use their homepage to display the passion and dedication their club serves to the local community - plus an invitation to join them.
 
Chinnor also have a detailed information page summarising their club history and showcasing past players, emphasising their sense of community and attracting more of the likeminded members they currently boast.
 

Don't underestimate the power of the first impression. Throughout your site, embody the passion and dedication of your club and invite people to share in that passion by joining your club. The more members you have, the more revenue you can drive through membership fees, events and more. 

With a Pitchero club website, you can work with our in-house design team to create the perfect look. As part of the Standard and Pro packages, we'll create a wesbite design that reflects the voice of your club. 

3. Invest some time in content

It may not be immediately obvious why, but taking the time to create news items, match reports and information on upcoming events can translate into a handy boost in revenue.

Maintaining a consistent stream of content in the form of news or match reports will translate into an increase in website traffic. Visitors that see quality content on a consistent basis are more likely to become regular visitors, coming back to read future posts.

Case Study: Earlswood Cricket Club have created a consistent stream of great content, using relevant images and informative headlines to boost their traffic.
 

Every Pitchero site comes with a Performance page, helping you to monitor site traffic and see what content works best for increasing it.

What does this mean for revenue? Traffic is of particular interest to one major revenue boosting-stream from our next point.

4. Ramp up your sponsorship

Sponsors just want to get their name out there, and helping them to do so can lead to a direct increase in revenue for your club.

Every visitor that shows up on your site is another chance to showcase your sponsors. The more visitors to your site, the more eyes that see your sponsors - making your club a more attractive proposition to potential sponsors and allowing you to demand a higher price for space on your club website.

In many cases, sponsors could even pay for your club website package for an entire year just to be placed as a lead sponsor on your site - as is the case with a number of Pitchero clubs.

Case Study: Hucknall Town FC showcase their main sponsors in the club website header. They also have a revolving carousel of sponsors, which they've placed in an prominent position on the site homepage (something which all clubs with a Pitchero website can do).
 

You can even drive your revenue up by getting inventive with sponsorships. Strike deals for match day sponsors that run throughout the season; player sponsorship to be featured in the club programme and on your site; or event sponsorship for your end-of-season dinner.

The revenue opportunities through online sponsorship are endless - but only if you have traffic coming into your website.

5. Open a club shop

People love to support their club in any way they can. For supporters who turn out every week to cheer on your team, that could mean handing over their cash in exchange for some club merchandise.

Sell replica kits and various club-branded items such as hats, jackets and even bears in your club shop. It opens up a steady revenue stream for your club and allows supporters to own a piece of their favourite team.

Case Study: Farsley Celtic FC's club website contains its very own PayPal integrated Club Shop, where they sell everything from retro shirts to scarfs.
 

There’s no need to freeze yourself at the side of the pitch every Saturday trying to sell club merchandise either; a Pitchero club website allows you to setup your own club shop online (only available to clubs on the Pro package).

6. Get a new design

We touched on this earlier, but the design of your club website is vital to underpinning your efforts to increase revenue.

Think of the power of the first impression. A well-designed site can showcase sponsors better, increase traffic and attract new members – all amounting to an increase in revenue.

Case Study: Maldon and Tiptree set a fantastic first impression to their users with a visually impressive website design. Created by our in-house design team, this feature which comes as part of the Standard and Pro packages.
 

There are a number great advantages a top club website can bring. We’ve compiled them all in our “7 Benefits to a professionally designed club website”. Review them and submit your free design request to our in house design team - who can create a fantastic new design based on your club colours, badges and imagery.

Open up some new revenue streams by creating a Pitchero club website and putting these pointers into action. You’ll soon be able to maintain a healthy balance sheet at your club.