We met with the Club last Thursday as part of the scheduled meetings for the 2023-24 season. The report of that meeting is:
Ownership / Search for Investor update
There was no news to report on this. The stance of the Club is still to bring in an investor but it has to be the right investor. Work continues, with new NDA’s signed in recent weeks. The Club promised to keep us abreast of any developments but this will not be able to be reported publicly until the correct time.
Communication
There has been improvements in recent weeks. The Jim McNulty interview spread over five days was a step in the right direction, and the update regarding the pitch was appreciated, but more was needed. We have previously cited the use of MRKT that needs communicating with the supporters. The Club are looking at producing a podcast early in July to give a full explanation, putting out a text version soon after. The Club are also working a different line of video output in the next few weeks and will be looking to engage with supporters as part of that.
Getting stadium ready for 2023-24 / Volunteer Army
The Club are looking at announcing a date soon for volunteers to support getting the stadium ready for the start of the season, as well as possibly other slots where necessary. (this has now been announced for 23rd July) The Trust will work with supporters to highlight areas they feel require work following the early games of pre-season / the season. A further meeting regarding Volunteers is planned for later in the year (September). The Club would also look to work with volunteers with regards to community events and publicising season tickets.
Commercial 2023-24
We spoke about the Player Sponsorship package that is available and how further value could be added to it by throwing in a picture with the player. With Social Media, this was likely to encourage other people to sponsor players. This was something the Club would take on Board.
We spoke about hospitality and the need to identify which supporters use it for further promotion. The Club stated that they have already begun tracking those who attend and will look to make specific targeting for the new season. The Club said that some of the busier nights last season was in the Papa Johns Trophy.
We stated that revenue could be increased through social media by highlight matchday sponsors. Whilst last season saw the Club acknowledging the sponsors on matchdays on Social Media, this can be massively improved. Sponsors usually receive a presentation after the game – this should be photographed and put out on Social Media. This will more than likely be highlighted and shared by those Sponsors.
We spoke about the Scoreboard and how £25 to display your message had not captured the imagination of the supporters with few examples on any game of this being used. The Club said that they were in the process of looking at how the scoreboard was used in the build up to games. We mentioned that it could be used to display pictures taken before the game of younger fans with Desmond as you get in other sports. The Club agreed to look at this.
National League
We asked about the notice period that is given to National League teams when fixtures are switched by BT Sports for live broadcasting. Early travel arrangements could be jeopardised should games be switched and let us know. The Club said they would find out and let us know.
We asked about priority for away tickets next season and the need to ensure a season ticket priority window. The Club said they were looking at something similar to what was operated at Harrogate on the last game of last season.
Preparation for 2023-24 season
We asked about the Catering changes for the new season. The Club expected to sign a contract with a new catering partner for the new season this week. This would cover hospitality and the kiosks. We asked about whether this would be extended to providing food in the Ratcliffe before games, and the Club expected this to be the case. We will confirm this before the start of the season.
We discussed the proposals to moving the away end to the far end of the Pearl Street for certain fixtures when the away support is expected to be under a hundred. We asked whether all games would be pre-selected before the season starts but the Club aimed to be flexible about it and ensure that plenty of notice was provided to supporters regarding this.
We spoke about the change to iFollow following relegation. We have previously spoken about National League TV which streams live games under the same rules as iFollow – the difference being the Club would retain 60% of all revenue. We asked about the live audio commentary of matches and how this would fit in with the National League. The Club agreed to get back to us with this.
Rochdale AFC AGM
No date in place at the moment but hope to announce something ahead of the new season.
AOB
The Club spoke to us about the plans for the launch of the away kit and the 3rd kit. This would take place in late July and September.
The Fans Forum night need to be moved from the agreed date of Thursday 27th July. It would only change by a few days if that was the case. We will look to confirm this as soon as possible.
The Club will be holding an open training session at the Crown Oil Arena before the start of the season. The date will be announced soon.