FC Utrecht
An award-winning data-driven experience for the FC Utrecht fan


The club
Football club FC Utrecht is a premier league club in the Netherlands. They are known for their fanatical and loyal supporters. The club was founded in 1970 and has performed in the Premier League ever since.
The challenge
Until the 2007/2008 season, FC Utrecht had no problem filling up the Galgenwaard Stadium, with a capacity of 23,750. During the period, the visitor numbers dropped sharply. A low point was reached in the 2013/2014 season with an average attendance of 17,250. This drop of almost 30% forced FC Utrecht to make choices. These were the first steps towards a data-driven strategy.
In 2021, the entire organization will participate in the 'Data Driven Fans First Strategy' that has been used together with Nominow for the working years.
All data sources that are present within the club, such as ticket and turnstile data from order and payment data are based on each other and are collected in a 360 degree fan profile. Thanks to this 'single source of truth', FC Utrecht knows exactly with whom they communicate and how they should be addressed. Before, during and after a match and even during the week.
Transactions are made in behavior and interests, can help bring about behavioral changes in fans or attracting new sponsors. Think, for example, of reaching fans who were unreachable until recently, or retaining supporters who are in danger of disappearing from the fan base. The more personal the fans become, the more relevant the communication and the higher the bond with the club and the conversion.
The Solution
Thanks to Nominow, FC Utrecht has been given full control of the data. The data strategy used ensures that FC Utrecht can send fully personalized e-mails, among other things. This method contributes to an increase in ticket sales. In addition to e-mail, there is also personalization via other channels in the customer journey such as the website, the webshop and the my environment. Where FC Utrecht was forced to adopt a different approach in 2015, it is now suddenly a pioneer in the field of data-driven marketing.
When a non-season ticket holder logs in to the FC Utrecht website, this person will see different content than a season ticket holder. Based on the available data, something is offered that is in line with the FC Utrecht profile at its disposal. The club can easily manage this in the dashboard of Nominow, and thus control it.
When it comes to parking tickets, it can be determined that people who live more than 10 kilometres from the stadium and who have purchased a parking ticket in the past will see a parking offer. Conversely, a call can be made to people with a bicycle to place it in a specific parking facility. The advantage is that FC Utrecht can now copy positive behavior to people who do not yet exhibit that behaviour.
A season ticket holder who attends all 17 home games has a renewal rate of approximately 98%. This means that any ticket holder who attends all home games is likely to renew their season ticket. This also means that if someone does not go to all the matches, action must be taken to ensure that this person does come to the stadium next time. With these insights, events, fan affairs and marketing switch to facilitate this 'desired behaviour'. For example, by organizing a fan square, tribute, atmosphere campaign or other 'side event' to prevent no-shows at certain matches.
Thanks to Nominow, FC Utrecht can therefore easily segment itself and thus address the fans effectively.
The outcome
The results of the collaboration between FC Utrecht and Nominow are excellent. Since its inception, we have been named "Website of the Year 2019, 2020 and 2022" in the sport. The turnover of the webshop already doubled in the first year and the average number of ticket sales has increased to 21,600 per game (+23%). These results make FC Utrecht the online champion of the Eredivisie!
Increased spectators per match
Increased turnover rate in webshop
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