Tom Burwell - Interim CEO Podcast

[Keith S30S]

Burnley and Brigton open 5 days a week,Bournemouth 7 days a week!

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The bloke is a total bullshiter.

 

[Forty]

If they do build the one thing we can be reasonably sure of is the prices won’t be decreased because there’s more capacity. Similarly we all know they’ll be looking at concession prices and areas as well because we have a healthy % that aren’t paying full price

Shite thats me just dropped to pensioners rates.
There gonna put us upper stairs in the South Stand, it'll just be like the Mags I'll have to do 40 flights of stairs to get to me seat. If they do the extension

Not sure but for a cat A match it's £300 a ticket for Forest it's about £240

Thats a canny wedge, not sure what you get for that.

 

[im not roland rat]

Are the staff at the club shop employed by Fanatics, and are Fanatics responsible for running the whole retail operation?

I'd image they are fanatics employees. Hence why the ticket office isnt part of the club shop.

 

[Geppetto]

Is he going to be made permanent or what then?

Seemed such odd time when the club announced that Bruce was leaving. It felt comforting having that lad around, given his link and love for the club.

 

[im not roland rat]

Do you work in the industry?

yes

 

[Useful_Idiot]

I might be taking your point too literally but you don’t need to follow or understand those things to support or enjoy the team on the pitch

Aye that's true but inevitably at some point someone will bring up revenue and PSR. Just sad that's what dominates football discourse these days.

 

[Keith S30S]

Thats a canny wedge, not sure what you get for that.

Pie and mash and a program.

Warm bar for pre, post and half time pints with a seat if you're lucky.

And that's it, seriously.

 

[im not roland rat]

i thought that until he mentioned making the kit ourselves

Watch this space. More and more clubs will explore this option if they are a bit more forward thinking IMO.
If you're a Man United getting nearly £100m a year from a brand to do it with their own global network and infrastructure to maximize a global audience then great.
If you're a smaller club who only sell a few thousand a year and someone is willing to give you a sponsorship fee then crack on and let someone else do it and take the cash for less hassle.
If you are a Sunderland and dont quite sit at the top table but big enough to make a lot more money why would you not do it yourself ??
Its not the norm but then clubs are being squeezed more and more to think differently.
As I've illustrated in a previous post. There's million of £££ on the table for a club to do it themselves.

Been watching too much dragons den he reckons hes that toukar fella

Wouldnt mind being a quid behind him!

 

[Keith S30S]

Watch this space. More and more clubs will explore this option if they are a bit more forward thinking IMO.
If you're a Man United getting nearly £100m a year from a brand to do it with their own global network and infrastructure to maximize a global audience then great.
If you're a smaller club who only sell a few thousand a year and someone is willing to give you a sponsorship fee then crack on and let someone else do it and take the cash for less hassle.
If you are a Sunderland and dont quite sit at the top table but big enough to make a lot more money why would you not do it yourself ??
Its not the norm but then clubs are being squeezed more and more to think differently.
As I've illustrated in a previous post. There's million of £££ on the table for a club to do it themselves.

Wouldnt mind being a quid behind him!

Sounds like the club could do a lot worse than dropping you a message. We need people who know what they are talking about rather than puddings like they've installed in the ticket office. A fans as well is a bonus.

My mate @djbambi showed them how to set up a brick website. They are meeting with him next week.

 

[HarrogateMackem]

I was in the 76 yards as a 1 off for Spurs. In the lift there was 4 of us, 2 were a Spurs couple the thick end of 80 who can obviously afford a long trip up north and about £600 on tickets, perhaps a hotel stay? We have minimal people in this area who could afford similar.

But apparently we're building a fan base...

Not sure that's true like. There's wealthy people in Sunderland/ the NE, just like there is anywhere else. I know for example someone on the board of a top insurance broker lives in the city. I don't know if he does have his season tickets in there, but he certainly has the wealth to afford somewhere like that I image? There will be hundreds of others like them. The Sunderland fans in top positions I've met over the years down here in London would surprise you.

Let's be honest, most corporate hospitality is business first and foremost anyway. So the executives in the new film studio will need somewhere to entertain guests (as a boring example). There's various start ups in the NE relating to manufacturing and engineering that could close a single deal that's the cost of a hundred years of those tickets, and might want to entertain International guests as another.

But then there's wealthy people who come from all over the country for a one off game - the Spurs fans in your example. And now we need to seriously consider there might be very wealthy fans from Scandinavia and the Netherlands we need to seriously be targeting - the same as Liverpool and Man U have been doing for decades. Plus Yanks etc. coming over from a one off "tourist" game. If all these peoples only option is Premium seats to see a PL game - are they really going to turn down the chance over a couple of hundred of quid? Because as the waiting list grows and demand is there, the one off normal tickets are going to go to a membership ballot the same as other PL teams. And the membership fee + the ticket is probably going to be not a trillion miles away from your "premium" ticket for a one off game

 

[Keith S30S]

Not sure that's true like. There's wealthy people in Sunderland/ the NE, just like there is anywhere else. I know for example someone on the board of a top insurance broker lives in the city. I don't know if he does have his season tickets in there, but he certainly has the wealth to afford somewhere like that I image? There will be hundreds of others like them. The Sunderland fans in top positions I've met over the years down here in London would surprise you.

Let's be honest, most corporate hospitality is business first and foremost anyway. So the executives in the new film studio will need somewhere to entertain guests (as a boring example). There's various start ups in the NE relating to manufacturing and engineering that could close a single deal that's the cost of a hundred years of those tickets, and might want to entertain International guests as another.

But then there's wealthy people who come from all over the country for a one off game - the Spurs fans in your example. And now we need to seriously consider there might be very wealthy fans from Scandinavia and the Netherlands we need to seriously be targeting - the same as Liverpool and Man U have been doing for decades. Plus Yanks etc. coming over from a one off "tourist" game. If all these peoples only option is Premium seats to see a PL game - are they really going to turn down the chance over a couple of hundred of quid? Because as the waiting list grows and demand is there, the one off normal tickets are going to go to a membership ballot the same as other PL teams. And the membership fee + the ticket is probably going to be not a trillion miles away from your "premium" ticket for a one off game

It's all about scale. If you have 100 people who have the cash but only 10% are interested you have 10 customers / fans. A 1,000 a 100 and so on.

Spurs have a lot more fans than us and a hell of a lot more with high disposable incomes.

 

[im not roland rat]

Sounds like the club could do a lot worse than dropping you a message. We need people who know what they are talking about rather than puddings like they've installed in the ticket office. A fans as well is a bonus.

My mate @djbambi showed them how to set up a brick website. They are meeting with him next week.

Id love to talk to them about it.
I also think that as fans, if we knew the club where making all the money on the gear they sold, we would buy more!!
You could engage the fans in the design process. We as fans know what works and doesnt. We are also very connected to the city and the wider area so we can make designs that really are relevant to the club and the city. Every strip or piece of off field kit could tell a story. That builds an emotionl connection and that then means people love the product more and buy more.

 

[The Good Sir]

Lying about ticket office openings fs. If that's what he's putting across as an interim, let's hope he doesn't pass the interview process.

 

[Keith S30S]

Id love to talk to them about it.
I also think that as fans, if we knew the club where making all the money on the gear they sold, we would buy more!!
You could engage the fans in the design process. We as fans know what works and doesnt. We are also very connected to the city and the wider area so we can make designs that really are relevant to the club and the city. Every strip or piece of off field kit could tell a story. That builds an emotionl connection and that then means people love the product more and buy more.

Drop Chris Waters a message telling him of your background and ideas. Sure he would pass it on to the relevant person. Probably too late for next season but it sounds like an excellent idea going forward to maximise income.

 

[magic snood]

Id love to talk to them about it.
I also think that as fans, if we knew the club where making all the money on the gear they sold, we would buy more!!
You could engage the fans in the design process. We as fans know what works and doesnt. We are also very connected to the city and the wider area so we can make designs that really are relevant to the club and the city. Every strip or piece of off field kit could tell a story. That builds an emotionl connection and that then means people love the product more and buy more.

Didn't Southampton make their own for a couple of years back when they were doing well with Pochettino/Koeman in charge? Be interesting to know how it went for them, must have been a reason they stopped.

The bloke is a total bullshiter.

Keith, he's not the first business executive to say something incorrect. I think he makes a lot of sense in the rest of the interview and while it's annoying that he got that wrong, I'm not sure it's a hill worth dying on or that he should be branded as a total bullshitter.

 

[Haggis Heed]

I hear alot of waffle in my job from CEOs and the like but must say, I was impressed by this guy, especially being so new to the job. May have my rose tinted glasses on mind...

Thanks for sharing

 

[Keith S30S]

Didn't Southampton make their own for a couple of years back when they were doing well with Pochettino/Koeman in charge? Be interesting to know how it went for them, must have been a reason they stopped.


Keith, he's not the first business executive to say something incorrect. I think he makes a lot of sense in the rest of the interview and while it's annoying that he got that wrong, I'm not sure it's a hill worth dying on or that he should be branded as a total bullshitter.

He's come out with a statement that only us and the mags have a ticket office.

On this thread there's at least Burnley, Fulham, Everton, Leeds, Bournemouth and Brighton have them and they are open all week. I'm sorry but that's ill informed nonesense at best.

I haven't listened to any of his speil because of those revelations. Sorry he's lost me already for being a clueless clown

Perhaps he'll do some proper research before he opens his mouth in future.

 

[North Yorks Mackem]

I really enjoyed that, actually.

Probably worth noting that he's appearing on a sports business podcast and not one specifically aimed at Sunderland fans, so if people are ever so slightly uncomfortable with the way he speaks, then they just need to swallow it, really, as he's in a room with other sports business types who are pretty much all cut from the same cloth.

Burwell is only acting as the interim CEO and he was keen during that chat to point out that he was actually interviewing for the permanent role that same day, so whilst he's got a high level oversight of the running of the club, at some point soon he'll step back in his role with the sporting group that owns us and the running of SAFC will eventually be left to whoever they have in mind, which is both daunting and exciting.

The most intriguing thing that stood out to me was how far behind we are because of spending ten years in the wilderness. It's obviously been viewed that whilst we are moving quickly, we aren't moving quickly enough, and at a corporate level, we need to bring some serious experience in to help shift Sunderland into the 21st century so that we don't end up lagging behind other clubs in the top flight commercially.

The uncomfortable truth is that if we want a competitive team in the Premier League, there are going to be some unpopular decisions made. However, I trust this owner and board as they've given us no reason not to trust them.

We're a very attractive football club right now, which I imagine makes us a tasty proposition for ambitious executives who really want to get stuck into a project that could do wonders for their career, and I don't think we should fear that. It's a long way away from being seen as the biggest basket case in England, where nobody of worth would have touched us with a barge pole.

It cant be denied that the club has made tremendous progress over the last two to three years. But the highlighted comment is wild.

Did you forget Juan sartori was part of a group that nearly asset stripped the club out of existence, and tried to hawk the club out to some fantasist after the Charlton play off in order to make a quick buck?

I certainly have more faith in KLD and think hes well intentioned. But recent activity involving tickets should flag up concerns in how supporters are viewed.

 

[pablo casals]

Watch this space. More and more clubs will explore this option if they are a bit more forward thinking IMO.
If you're a Man United getting nearly £100m a year from a brand to do it with their own global network and infrastructure to maximize a global audience then great.
If you're a smaller club who only sell a few thousand a year and someone is willing to give you a sponsorship fee then crack on and let someone else do it and take the cash for less hassle.
If you are a Sunderland and dont quite sit at the top table but big enough to make a lot more money why would you not do it yourself ??
Its not the norm but then clubs are being squeezed more and more to think differently.
As I've illustrated in a previous post. There's million of £££ on the table for a club to do it themselves.

Wouldnt mind being a quid behind him!

im sorry like but i dont see mid to large sized premier league clubs doing this

part of branding for fans in buying club gear is getting the adidas, nike, hummel etc.
weve been down this route before with cheap unknown brands, avec
mags with castore, new players in the market wont dislodge nike, adidas etc.

in fact the club shop has loads of its own no brand gear made by smaller suppliers and its mainly crap.

 

[MattyM 09/109]

That was one of the most fascinating insights into modern football I've ever seen. The transformative nature of a single premier league season for multi year planning is extraordinary, the implication of squad cost ratio on planning the business growth - especially monetisation, media rights and how young'uns consume media and what that means in 2 years, the actual impact of hospitality v standard seating, digital transformation (i didnt even realise only we and newcastle still had a physical ticket office)