Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Marketing and Sponsorship

Cambridge United Making The Most Of FA Cup Replay Against Manchester United

League Two side Cambridge United is expected to make £1M ($1.5M) from Tuesday’s FA Cup replay against ManU at Old Trafford, and has already signed up new sponsors on the back of the glamor tie. The fourth-tier side, which held ManU to a 0-0 draw in the fourth-round of the FA Cup on Jan. 23, has a fan allocation of 9,000 tickets for the replay, in which it will share the gate-receipt money from an expected Old Trafford crowd of more than 70,000. The £1M windfall will prove lucrative for Cambridge, as it will use the money to upgrade facilities in the ground and improve its hospitality offering. Cambridge United Business Development Manager Liz Slack: “We are anticipating the figure will be in the region of £1 million in terms of the gate receipts.”

MAXIMIZE THE IMPACT: Cambridge has already benefited from the home match against ManU in its 8,127 capacity Abbey Stadium, which was televised on BBC and attracted a peak audience of 7.1 million. Slack -- who only joined the club on Jan. 4, the day of the FA Cup fourth round draw -- set about maximizing commercial revenues from ManU's visit by ramping up sponsorships, naming rights and hospitality activity. Slack said, “We had to undertake immediately an assessment of how lucrative this tie could be whilst recognizing that the facilities that we have here at the ground would limit us to the amount of commercial gain there was to be had. One of the benefits of an FA Cup tie like this was I had a lot of companies wanting time in diary.” The key was bringing in some “big ticket” sponsorship deals while not alienating existing loyal sponsors, Slack said. Cambridge’s corporate hospitality offering was boosted from 70 dining places within the stadium to 410 hospitality packages that extended beyond the stadium. Cambridge players also came on to the pitch in "walk out" jackets -- very rare for such a small team -- in order to attract a sponsor, which they did in the shape of Fujitsu. A stand sponsor, pharmaceutical company Chemtest, and a first team training kit sponsor, PR company Incorporated London, were seduced by the prospect of the tie being televised and signed up for at least the rest of the season. Slack was quoted in the Financial Times saying, "I recognize a business opportunity when I see one."

HONORING LONGTIME SPONSORS: As an example of not alienating existing sponsors, Slack said they made sure that these brands were showcased on digital perimeter advertising boards which were installed for the match. Slack said it was too early to say how much the club made from the home tie, but said it is likely to cover 50% of the club’s annual commercial budget. The club was advised on the potential commercial opportunities by Sports Revolution, the sports media and rights business, which sold the advertising board inventory. Sports Revolution Commercial Dir Andy Clilverd said drawing with ManU was a better result financially for the club than if it had won. He said, “While you would have loved to beat Manchester United, for the club it’s better to have got the draw. The real meal ticket here is going to Manchester United and getting several hundred thousand pounds, I would have thought, from the gate receipts. That is absolutely what a club like Cambridge needs. It’s like winning the lottery for the smaller lower league clubs.”
John Reynolds is a writer in London.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/02/03/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/cambridge-united.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2015/02/03/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/cambridge-united.aspx

CLOSE