I've drafted my reply to the email I received.
Hello Karen,
Thanks for your email. I want to let you know from the off that I am not only hugely frustrated by your decision, I’m also utterly baffled as to why a business which is in a dire financial mess and has just taken a massive hit in revenue would not do everything they possibly could to maintain and strengthen their bond with supporters/paying customers. Despite the years of depressing football and farcical approach to running the club SAFC still maintains a huge number of loyal supporters around the world. You have chosen to completely ignore an opportunity to capitalize on that financially while also ensuring at least some of them will lose interest or decide to follow a team they can actually watch play. Well done, that’s quite an astonishing level of ineptitude, even by your already monumental standards. Didn’t we spend the last few years engaging in international pre-season tournaments and striking sponsorship deals with companies in far flung places for the very reason that football has a worldwide audience? Is that whole idea on the scrap heap now then?
I also read something recently (as in a week or so ago) where the club expressed a strong desire to find better ways to engage and communicate with supporters. It looks like that was merely more empty words based on this decision.
I’ve read through your list of excuses for why you don’t view your overseas supporters as important enough to cater to, even when the ability to do it has been put on a plate for you. I’ve replied to each of them below.
There are a number of reasons behind us reaching this conclusion:
- We believe the standard one-camera option will not provide a quality service for supporters
Surely that’s for me and other supporters to decide as we will be the ones paying for it? I’d say being able to watch the game live with one camera is far preferable to watching it a whole day late with action replays and close ups of players boots. I’m not sure your conclusion is based on even the most basic market research.
- Producing a broadcast to the standard for which the club would be happy to charge our supporters (multi-camera, commentary etc) would involve significant costs.
A smart and proactive business would embrace this new technology as a means to profit in the future. A short-sighted, trundling, failing business would say it’s too expensive and not bother to offer their customers/supporters anything. It’s no surprise to anyone that SAFC falls into the latter category.
- A significant number of games (those broadcast on TV in the UK and abroad) cannot be streamed under EFL rules, and as such there is no guarantee as to a minimum number of games which could be shown. We would therefore be charging supporters for a product we may not be able to deliver
Charge supporters per game rather than for a season. This is honestly not difficult. Have you ever been involved with running a business before?
- We do not believe from our research that the revenue from subscriptions would make the venture financially viable.
Now we are getting to the crux of the matter. You’re not able to see a way to fleece people immediately so you’ve written the whole thing off. There are 58 clubs/businesses that disagree with you. Given the general opinion of how SAFC is currently engaging with and catering for their supporters expressed across social media I’d hazard a guess that your market research isn’t worth the pub napkin it’s scrawled on.
- We have already invested a significant sum in a multi-camera broadcast system for use at the Stadium of Light and are currently planning to broadcast full 90-minute re-runs of home games, delayed in accordance with the league's holdbacks (available from 12 noon GMT the day after the game) for a subsidised fee.
Hang on, didn’t you just use the cost of this equipment as an excuse for not offering the service? If you have already invested in a “multi-camera broadcast” system, wouldn’t it be a better idea to use it than not? It is nice to see consistency in the club’s approach to business reaches right from media and marketing to the first team. Maybe we can loan the equipment out to another club, pay half of their operating costs and take it back in a year when it’s worth markedly less?
- SAFC is continuing to invest in its digital platforms, recognising that this is a vital medium for fans to connect with the club. We will do everything we can to continue to extend our coverage via existing channels moving forward and hope you will understand our reasoning in regards to this.
I don’t understand it at all. The only explanation is that the club is penny pinching at the expense of alienating loyal fans who’ve stuck by them through thin and thinner. You’re a national laughing stock and should be thrilled that anyone still bothers to care about the club. I am sick of seeing people in charge of the running of the football club I love going through the motions, making awful decisions and generally doing the bare minimum. Your decision on this topic is indicative of the complete lack of ambition, forward planning and business acumen which has plagued the club for years. A change of ownership can not come soon enough.
Kind regards,
