Southend United Ticket to Text

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by Steve Beecroft

Southend United Football Club claim to be the only Football Club to have a mobile ticketing facility offered to fans.....

"Southend United is currently the only Football Club offering the sale of match tickets by text message direct to your mobile phone." http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/TicketNewsDetail/0,,10444~1976500,00.html

At Smart Stadia Ltd we believe that at least one Premiership Club, Everton FC, adopted the same technology in September 2008, and who also claim to be the first....

"

Txt2Ticket is the first service of its kind in football and offers fans the flexibility to choose a preferred seating area with no booking fees."

http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/everton-launch-txt2ticket.html?mode=text

Then there was the Manchester United v's Portsmouth pre-season tournament meeting in July 2008 at the Abuja Stadium, Nigeria claiming....

"This match in Abuja Stadium Nigeria was the first football match in the world to offer mobile ticketing to fans."

http://www.mobiqa.com/live/files/ManchesterUnitedcasestudy.pdf

We haven't even began our research in the Far East where mobile phones are regularly used for other methods of ticketing, or indeed elsewhere in Europe such as Spain where we understand this technology is very popular.

Regardless of whether Southend United's claim to be global leaders of this technology in the football world is accurate or not one thing is for certain, they are ambitious an ambitious organisation and back that ambition up with board level support and more importantly, action.

We have been very proud to have been associated, in a very small way, with Southend United's planning of new technology not only for Roots Hall but also in preparation for the mover to Fossetts Farm. During our short engagement with the Chief Executive, Geoffrey King, that not only was the club ambitious and embraced technology that they also recognised the need to blend different technologies to achieve greater revenue generation and cost savings.

Case Study - Southend United and Mobile Ticketing

The club first piloted the mobile ticketing in the 2006/7 season when the club issued some complimentary tickets that were valid in 2 dedicated gates. This pilot was SMS based and stand alone i.e. not electronically connected to the clubs ticketing system.

Then in April 2008 the pilot was made "Live" and extended to all gates except for visitors. Ticket delivery was automated with the inclusion of MMS and email2mobile as delivery methods.

A review was conducted in late 2008 with following results:-

• High take-up = mobile tickets per game = 9.2% of total matchday sales

• Customers from all age groups used the service

System Features

• Enables scheduled delivery of tickets (e.g. 24 hours before kick-off)

• Available to UK networks

• Full reporting of delivery status and usage

• of mobile tickets

• Multiple tickets per order

• Pre-match push

• Pre-match text

• Post match analysis / text

The Benefits

• Fast and easy delivery

• Controllable delivery

• No additional identifier required

• Clear readability compared to print-at-home

• Addressing non-regular supporters with special promotions

• Collecting new profile data, also of supporters who have not registered in CRM so far

• Enabling more interaction with the supporter on a very personal and responsive media

• Reduced line at Box Office on match day

• New sponsorship opportunities

• More direct interaction before the event

For more information about this post or to understand how your club can realise these and other benefits contact Smart Stadia Ltd or email Steve Beecroft

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 8 of 8

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Summary, Conclusion and Next Steps

The previous 7 parts and this final conclusion of a “Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard” demonstrate very clearly how a single card can provide access to many different services and activities delivered by multiple providers from both public and private sectors.

This is not theory every one of the applications below is a live application in a scheme in the UK. This document “Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard” simply brings them all together on the one card.

LIST OF APPLICATIONS USED

• Logical Access – Home PC
• EMV Payment – (Europay/MasterCard/ Visa)
• Access Control – Council Building access
• Council specific – e-Purse
• Access Control – Parking
• Loyalty
• Library Membership – Local Authority
• Staff ID
• Access Control – Football Stadia
• Ticketing – Football match day or season
• Football Club Specific – e-Purse, Cashless in the Stadia and Shop
• Football Club Membership
• Leisure Club Membership – Local Authority
• Access Control – Leisure
• Network ID – Higher Education / Learning Resource
• PC Accessibility – SNAPI
• Auto Form Fill
• Concessions - Transport
• Parking – Local Authority
• Bill Payment – CTax / Rent
• Entitlement – Cycle Hire

NUMBER OF USES

• Monday 10
• Tuesday 10
• Wednesday 14
• Thursday 12
• Friday 11
• Saturday 16
• Sunday 4

Total for the week 77

Average daily uses 11

BENEFITS

For a full list of operational and cashable benefits of such a scheme in your organisation contact sbeecroft@smartstadia.com. However we have highlighted below the typical benefits that other Football Clubs and Local Authorities have realised.

• More Customer Data
• Better Quality Customer Data
• Improved Know Your Customer Capability
• More Effective CRM Campaign Development
• Better CRM Campaign Management
• Increased Revenue (potentially £300+ per season for a Football Club)
• Reduces Costs
• Greater Efficiency
• Leaner Overall Service Delivery
• Richer Customer Experience
• Improver Customer Loyalty
• Fewer Debtor Days
• Faster Payment
• Improved Cash Flow
• New Revenue Streams
• Peer Envy
• Greener Operations
• Improved Community Reputation

This is not and exhaustive list however it is a good example of what a smart card scheme like this can do for your organisation. If you don’t think your Chief Executive would like you to deliver any of the above benefits then we will simply thank you for reading and advise you to stop reading now.

********************

Still reading?............... Ok you must be serious. If you really do wish to find out how a multi-application, multi-vendor scheme can help your organisation specifically then call or email Steve Beecroft, Smart Technologies Consultant on 07855 364493 or sbeecroft@smartstadia.com.

Your CEO will thank you if you do, and you will kick yourself if you don’t.

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 7 of 8

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Sunday

Sam and Thomas look at the pictures of the match yesterday on the Football Clubs website. Thomas has received an email with his membership details and he sets up his account.

Sam finds a replica shirt from the early eighties which he adds to the “wanted list” in his Loyalty account so that when he has enough points he will get an automatic reminder by email and text, there was an option for the shirt to be automatically sent to him when he had enough points and the

loyalty points redeemed automatically but he didn’t choose that option.

It is a nice day and Same takes the family to a local petting zoo and country park. The park is operated by the county council and there is a small charge by as Sam is a “Residents and Supporters” smart card holder he and his family enjoy free admission.

On the way home Sam get fuel at a small local petrol station and uses the EMV payment method on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card and gets some more loyalty points. (4)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 6 of 8

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Saturday

Today is a top of the table clash and Sam is taking his son, Thomas, to the game this is Thomas’ first game of the season. Sam and Thomas drive to the town centre Sam parks the car in a council managed Pay and Display car park as a resident of the borough Sam is entitled to a discount on parking charges Sam presents the card to the parking machine and receives his discount.

Then Sam takes Thomas to the Club Shop in town centre and redeems some of the loyalty points he has been accruing and receives a home shirt for Thomas.

It is still early and Sam takes Thomas to the local museum to research a topic that Thomas is studying at school. The “Residents and Supporters” smart card entitles Sam to a half price entry but as there is no card reader in the museum Sam simply shows his card. This type of “Show n Go” discount scheme operates in a number of places in the town also and helps local small businesses, this initiative is backed by the councils local regeneration scheme.

Then Sam goes to a local shop that is a Pay Point agent to pay his Rent and Council Tax as he does not have a direct debit set up. At the shop Sam pays cash but presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader to identify him and allocate the funds to the right amounts to the correct Rent and CTax accounts.

It is now time for Sam and Thomas to go to the stadium and as it is close and a sunny day they decide to hire one of the public cycles in the town. The Sam knows that the football club are part of this “Fit 4 Life” initiative operated by the Council and backed by the local PCT as it is part of the Football Clubs “Green Travel Plan”. At the automated cycle store Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader and releases an adults cycle for himself and does the same for a junior cycle for Thomas. They both cycle 2 miles to the stadium where they store and lock the cycles in a storage facility located in the stadia car park and is similar to the one in town. The locking mechanism is also operated by the “Residents and Supporters” smart card, which if applicable is also used for payment but not in this case as the system recognises that Sam is entitled to free use.

Sam takes Thomas to the ticket office to buy him a match day ticket. He presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to collect the loyalty points but he pays for the ticked cash. When the ticket office take Thomas’ personal details for the ticket purchase they see that although this is his first match this season, he did attend 6 matches last season and travelled to an away FA Cup tie with the Official Supporters Club. They offer Thomas the chance to join the Junior Supporters Club with discounts and his own supporters card. As Sam is already a “Residents and Supporters” smart card holder and for a limited time the Junior Supporters Club Membership is free. Thomas does apply and Sam is given an immediate discount on Thomas’ match day ticket.

Sam and Thomas the go to the turnstiles they both enter the stadium Sam with the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and Thomas with his own barcoded ticket. In the stadium Sam buys them both a drink and a burger using the closed e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” smart card as again that queue is much shorter than the cash queue.

Sam and Thomas watch the first half during which Sam gets a text message welcoming Thomas to the Junior Supporters Club and giving a promotional code for Thomas, 2 friends and a responsible adult to have a free stadium tour. All Thomas has to do is have his parents complete an online form with names, addresses and ages of the 4 people attending the tour. Sam also tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Then at half time Both Sam and Thomas get a cold drink from the kiosk where Sam again uses the closed e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and is served very quickly.

After the match friend Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to unlock the cycles for the ride back to town to collect the car.

At home Sam registers himself Thomas and 2 friends for the tour using the promotional code in the text message and as he is a “Residents and Supporters” smart card he will be given Loyalty Points if anyone in the party purchases anything and if they become season ticket holders Sam and Thomas will be invited to meet their favourite player. Sam then checks his loyalty account and sees a total of 225 new points from the purchases and entering the stadium early. (16)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 5 of 8

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Friday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building.

At lunch time Sam goes to the councils “One Stop Shop” to apply for Free School Meals for his 2 children. He uses a public PC and presents his “Residents and Supporters” smart card to the reader which identifies him asks for a secret word (2 Factor Authentication). As Sam is registered with a sight impairment, the councils public facing system and reads the visual preferences indicator on the card and as with the system at the football clubs conferencing facilities system the councils public facing system is set to Sam’ preferences.

As the councils CRM already holds many pieces of information required for the Free School Meals Entitlement Form some information the has been automatically completed i.e. Name. DoB, Address, Contact details etc. This is called Auto Form Fill. Sam check the the auto populated data is correct, completes the rest of the form and returns to work.

After work Sam decides to go to the gym he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey and once at the gym, which is a council leisure centre Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to gain entry to the centre as it is also his membership card for the leisure centre. Sam also uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card inside the leisure centre to register his use of the gym and again use of the swimming pool. Sam then travels home on the bus using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the journey home.

Sam then collects the shopping list and drives to the local supermarket where he pays for the weekly shopping with the EMV Payment option on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.
When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and he has received points of using the Gym and paying for the weekly shopping. (11)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 4 of 8

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Thursday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building.

At lunch time Sam goes to town and buys a CD from a local music store and some accessories for his car from a national motor factors retailer using the EMV payment on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.

Sam has study leave in the afternoon and travel home on the bus using his “Residents and Supporters” card, and collects his Business Management course books and course work . At home Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the balance on his loyalty account and discovers that he has an additional 160 points for the EMV transactions at the local music store and the national motor factors retailer. As these transaction are using the EMV payment facility they attract a slightly lower rate than transactions using the pre pay e-purse on the “Residents and Supporters” card.

As Sam is registered as a mature student studying at the stadium he is allowed free access to the WiFI within the stadium conference suite. Sam drives to the stadium early, for his second study night of the week, as he is meeting a study buddy there. On arrival at the stadium Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the parking barrier which opens as it knows from the CRM that Sam is studying tonight and is entitled to free parking. Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” card to log on to the network using dual factor authentication and the system recognises Sam is registered with a sight impairment and has stored visual preferences to help him read the text. The system is set to Sam’s preferences. This same function could be used to change language for those whose first language is not English.

Once the evenings study is over Sam leaves the car park again using the “Residents and Supporters” card to open the exit barrier.

When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and sees that, just as he did on Monday evening he received 50 point for attending college, this is part of a local “back to work” programme run by the council and supported by local businesses. (12)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 3 of 8

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Wednesday

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building. Today is Sam’s birthday and direct from the football club CRM to his mobile phone via text he has received a 2-4-1 offer to eat in the restaurant at the stadium so at lunch time Sam meets his wife for lunch. The offer also states that if he pays for the meal with the closed purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card he will receive treble loyalty points. Sam tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Sam redeems the 2-4-1 offer and pays for the meal with the closed e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card.

When Sam returns to work he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to access his office building.

After work Sam decides to go to the gym he uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey and once at the gym, which is a council leisure centre, Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to gain entry to the centre as it is also his membership card for the leisure centre. Sam also uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card inside the leisure centre to register his use of the gym and again use of the swimming pool. Sam then travels home on the bus using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the journey home.

At home Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the balance on his loyalty account and discovers that he has an additional 350 points for topping up, paying in the restaurant and also a bonus for his birthday. Sam has also been given additional points for participating I physical activity at the gym, this is an PCT initiative to promote healthy living and combat obesity and help reduce the pressure on the local NHS. The scheme is supported by the Local council and the football club. (14)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live.

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 2 of 8

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TUESDAY

Sam follows his usual routine into work using the “Residents and Supporters” smart card on the bus and to access his office building. At lunch time he goes in to the local library and borrows a book relating to his Business Management course. He uses the self service desk and presents the “Residents and Supporters” smart card to register the loan of the books, the card is also acts as his library card.

Sam decides to go straight to the football club from the office and meets his friend outside the stadium, where Sam realises that he has forgotten his ticket. However Sam is not concerned as he simply goes to the club shop where they read his card and confirm he was issued with a valid ticket and validate the access control system to accept the card. (In reality Sam did not need to do this as when he used the card to ID himself online the previous day when purchasing the tickets, the card and the barcoded ticket were automatically added to the access control system as valid for entry for this game. The system however would only accept the first form i.e. card or ticket for entry, once one form had been used the second would be automatically rendered void this is for security and revenue protection purposes.)

Sam’s friend arrives and they both enter the stadium Sam with the “Residents and Supporters” smart card and his friend with his own barcoded ticket. In the stadium Sam and friend both get a drink and something to eat. As Sam has the “Residents and Supporters” smart card he goes straight to the cashless payment queue which is shorter than the cash queue and to boost take up of the new “Residents and Supporters” card there is a discount on all product when paying by the pre pay e-purse. Sam pays using the closed e-purse and he is served quicker than his friend who is paying with cash and saves money. Sam then receives a text message from the football club Events Team thanking him for entering the stadium early and offers him a bogoff offer on the new line in pasties from a local bakers if he uses his closed e-purse for payment.

Sam and friend watch the first half during which Sam tops up his e-purse on his “Residents and Supporters” smart card by text message. Then at half time he takes advantage of the bogoff offer.

After the match friend Sam uses the “Residents and Supporters” smart card for the bus journey home. At home Sam checks his loyalty account and sees a total of 125 new points from the purchases and entering the stadium early. (10)

THE END

If you want to see what Sam can do with the "Residents and Supporters" smartcard during the rest of his week follow, then us on Twitter http://twitter.com/SmartStadia and you will get a tweet when each day goes live. Alternatively if you would like to find out what the costs and benefits associated with multi application smartcards in a football club or local authority environment would be please click >http://www.smartstadia.com

Week in the Life of a Football Supporter with a Residents Smartcard. Part 1 of 8

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BACKGROUND

Our fan, Sam, is a typical family man looking to improve his future prospects. He is thirtysomething and married with two young children. He lives with his family in rented accommodation with the local council appointed housing association. He works full time 9-5 with the local council as HR officer and is also a part-time mature student studying Business Management two evenings per week.

Sam goes to almost every home game and around 5 away games per season, but he is not a season ticket holder, he cant afford the one off cost and does not know about the budget plan payment terms. He usually meets friend before home games at a local pub as he believes it is too expensive to eat and drink in the stadium.

Sam Has a “Residents and Supporters” smart card issued by the local football club but as a Joint venture with the local council. The card is a Football Club Membership Card with a closed purse for use in the stadium and the club shop in the town centre. It also has a Europay / MasterCard / Visa (EMV) payment and is Local Authority Smart card Standards e-Organisation (LASSeO) & Integrated Transport Standards Organisation (ITSO) compliant, so it can be used to gain access to council provided services and on local transport. The card has also been developed and encoded in accordance with the emerging Football Association standards for smartcard technology in stadia.

MONDAY
Sam logs on to www.yourfootballclub.co.uk and checks the fixtures for the coming month, decides to purchase two tickets for tomorrow nights cup game, he will take a friend from work who has never been before. Sam has a USB smartcard reader purchased from the Football Club for £89.00 and just presents that card on the purchase screen and all his personal details are populated. (if Sam did not have a reader he would simply key his “Residents and Supporters” card number into the purchase screen. Sam then chooses to pay for the ticket with the EMV payment. Once the purchase is complete Sam check his Loyalty points balance and it have increased by 200 one for each ticket. Then he chooses the “print at home” option and prints both barcoded tickets, then sets off for work.

The bus arrives and Sam gets on and presents his “Residents and Supporters” card, which stores his ITSO compliant monthly bus ticket to the reader.

On arrival at work Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the access control reader at his office building to open the door, because the card is Sam’s staff pass it allows him access to his office and it also has his photo on it. At lunch time Sam is busy so decides to have something quick at the staff restaurant. Most of the staff have council issued cards for Access ID and to pay for food but Sam’s can use his “Residents and Supporters” card in the staff restaurants of which there are three across the whole council. The e-purse used in the council restaurants, unlike the prepay e-purse used in the football club, is not part of the loyalty programme at all and thus Sam’s spending in any on the three restaurants do not accrue any loyalty points. However both e-purses reside on the “Residents and Supporters” card.

At 17:00 Sam leave the office and travels home on the bus again using his “Residents and Supporters” card, which stores his ITSO compliant monthly bus ticket.

Monday is one of Sam’s two nights at college so Sam drives to the football club where the course is being held in the conference facilities. On arrival at the stadium Sam presents his “Residents and Supporters” card to the parking barrier which opens as it knows from the CRM that Sam is Studying tonight and is entitled to free parking. Once the evenings study is over Sam leaves the car park again using the “Residents and Supporters” card to open the exit barrier.

When Sam gets home he again checks his Loyalty Points balance and sees that he received 50 point for attending college, this is part of a local “back to work” programme run by the council and supported by local businesses. (9)

Part 2 of 8 due very soon

Cashing In on Contactless Sporting Events

Written by Steve Beecroft and Published by RFID Journal July 27, 2009:

In recent times, we have seen a surge in e-payments, or what has now been termed cashless payments What is the cause of this gallop toward removing cash from some environments? Well, that is simple—cost savings, revenue generation and improved efficiencies.

The 2010 Football World Cup, in South Africa, and the 2014 basketball World Cup, in Spain, have plans for cashless facilities, and the 2009 German F1 Grand Prix, in Nurnberg, has already implemented a cashless solution. To demonstrate how increasingly important cashless technology has become to sports venues, Sandra Alzetta, Visa Europe's senior VP for consumer market development, said, "The aim is for a cashless Olympic Games in London in 2012."

Many types of organizations have implemented cashless solutions, including.........

Click Here to read this full article