London Irish

The X-Factor at Work 

For a full explanation of the source of and rationale behind these figures please refer to The Figures Explained.

2003/4 Season

For a long time London Irish struggled with the problems that now appear to be bedevilling a number of other clubs, most notably Bath. They owned, and still own, their ground at Sunbury in South West London. Prior to moving their Premiership games away from Sunbury, they regularly turned customers away and were unable to develop the ground given its location and local planning difficulties. Temporary seating was erected to ease the situation for a couple of years, but this did not suffice for long. They had no choice but to move.

The initial move came in the shape of a ground-share at the Stoop, the home ground of their long time local rivals Harlequins. As there is little distance between Sunbury and Twickenham this suited many of the locally-based support and the move, initially on a two year deal, did not cause too much upset. It was however to be a very short residence at Twickenham. Harlequins, as they were entitled to do in the terms of their contract, terminated the deal a year early. Irish were left, at very short notice, looking for a new home. 

Few people, least of all this author, know what was happening inside both clubs at the time. The figures, however, do reveal something. As crowds at London Irish grew by a healthy 25% those at Harlequins fell by 20%. Matters came to a head after the Sunday Times published an article comparing the match day experience at The Stoop for respective Harlequins and London Irish home games. The owners did not come out in a good light.  

What London Irish have achieved in the period since their move to the Madejski stadium in Reading is little short of remarkable. In only four seasons they have more than doubled crowd numbers. That in itself is extraordinary. It could be said to be even more so given that the club has done little special on field in that time, winning the Powergen Cup in 2002, and qualifying for the Heineken Cup just once, in the same season. It becomes even more difficult to explain this phenomenal growth, when one considers that despite having a number of internationals in the squad during this period, none of them could be described as crowd-pullers, the equals of Robinson at Sale and Wilkinson at Newcastle.

Many in and around the club have mused about the reasons for this growth. Nobody, if they are honest, really knows what the answer is.

After they had been at the Madejski stadium for two years the club took the bold step of reducing ticket prices in previously under utilised parts of the 24k capacity stadium for the 2002/3 season. stadium. Coincidentally the previous season the club won the first piece of silverware in its history and qualified for the Heineken Cup.

In 2002/2003 supporters could get a season ticket for as little as £99, which entitled them to watch 11 Zurich Premiership games and three Heineken Cup pool games. That season alone the club saw a 43% increase in gates. As the club was still haemorrhaging money the decision to cut prices was regarded by many, this author included, as a mistake.    

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of these figures is what happened the following, last, season, 2002/2003. In a need to balance the books the price cuts were largely reversed. The ticket prices which had previously been reduced were increased by an average 42%, the cheapest season tickets by over 50% to £149. To further dampen things the club had a poor season on the field, only avoiding relegation on the last day. There was to be no Heineken Cup action for London Irish in the 2003/4 season. Almost incredibly given the negative aspects, crowds at the Madejski still grew last season by 7.4%.

The decision to cut prices for the 2002/3 season was, with the benefit of hindsight, exactly the right thing for London Irish to do. It brought enough of a crowd into the stadium to generate an atmosphere. It balanced the crowds between East and West stands. Enough of those who came enjoyed what they were experiencing and stayed on.

Word of mouth is the most valuable marketing tool that any business can have. In the case of London Irish it seems to be doing the job very well indeed. Attracted by the low prices people came to matches, enjoyed the experience and continued coming back even after the prices had been increased again.

What is more difficult to judge is how much of the huge growth in numbers that year was down to the aggressive pricing and how much could be put down to the previous year’s success on field. My own feeling is that the vast bulk of that growth was attributable to pricing. In that season there were also an inordinate amount of promotional offers. These will have played a part, too.  

There certainly seems to be an appetite for top-flight rugby in the Thames Valley. A good many of those who now count themselves as London Irish supporters used to come and watch Richmond play at the same stadium. It is also noticeable that Wasps have, since their move to High Wycombe, picked up not inconsiderable support. Does this perhaps come from the fact that there is less competition for the sports fan’s pound in the Thames Valley? There is as yet no competition with Premiership soccer teams, although Reading FC do look as if they might make the step up in grade before too long.  

London Irish have long held the reputation of being the most sociable of the top flight clubs. Long before any other club was doing so, post-match entertainment was the norm at Sunbury, and it moved easily on to Reading. For those who wanted to do more than just watch a match, the Craic was always at hand. In marketing itself the club has used the strap line ‘It’s more than 80 minutes of rugby’. Most certainly for a good number of London Irish supporters the match day experience starts well before and lasts long after the players are on the field.

It is impossible to say for sure just how important this is to the club’s success. There is a feeling amongst the supporter community that it is the single biggest factor. During the 2002/3 season, in an attempt to cut costs, it was announced that the post match entertainment would be cancelled. There was uproar. A sponsor was soon found and normal service resumed.  

Another area where London Irish have excelled is the development of big days. Here the marketing team at the club deserve full credit. This is most notably the Saint Patrick’s weekend game where they set a new Zurich Premiership record on 21^st March against Bath with a crowd of 20,840, but a club record was also achieved with their Christmas game against Wasps on the 27^th December, when the crowd also exceeded 20k. The value of these games as a marketing vehicle is immense. Many regular supporters use the Saint Patrick’s game in particular as an excuse to invite friends and family. A percentage of these rugby ‘virgins’ enjoy the experience so much they come back for regular games. A virtuous circle is thereby established.

The break-even point for London Irish at the Madejski is believed to be around 10k spectators. In 2003/2004 they have for the first time exceeded this as an average. With in excess of 24k seats to fill they have no worries about ground size constraining development. Commercially, the future looks to be very bright indeed. If they merely sustain the average growth they have thus far managed in the professional era they will in five years’ time be averaging crowds in excess of 20k. Given the constraints that Leicester will have in developing Welford Road it is quite possible that London Irish will be the best-supported rugby union club in the land as we approach the later part of this decade. 

Does this sound fanciful? Before I looked at the figures I thought it was. Having now looked at them in some detail my feeling is that not only is this achievable, but that it is very likely. Average annual growth at London Irish over the seven year period covered has been 19.8%, at Leicester it has been 4.2%. If those trends continue, this is what we'll see.

As they often say when advertising financial products, past performance does not necessarily indicate future success. It is however a key indicator when looking at such prognosis.

There is an x-factor at work within London Irish. Success is breeding success. If they manage to attract or develop some major international stars and/or start winning things on the field the sky is the limit.

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