Relevent Sports Group has signed a three-year partnership with Stage Front and its ticketing subsidiary to drive ticket sales to the International Champions Cup.
Stage Front will be both a sponsor and a ticketing partner of the men’s event, which features some of the top football clubs in the world, such as LaLiga’s Real Madrid and Primeira Liga’s Benfica.
The International Champions Cup is an annual club association football exhibition competition. It features club teams from Europe playing pre-season friendly matches, originally in the United States and Canada, but in the years since also in venues in China, Australia, Mexico and across Europe.
Under the agreement, Relevent Sports Group (RSG), which is a privately-owned international football company focused on growing the sport in North America and Asia, will be provided with unique customer and sales data insights as Stage Front focuses on a wide variety of digital and marketing programmes to maximise ticket sales of the International Champions Cup.
The company will not only help the International Champions Cup sell tickets but also boost its business analytics in areas like digital marketing and pricing strategy.
Stage Front chief executive and founder Karl Roes, said: “This partnership is a large step in our efforts to create strategies that cover the global customer journey. The International Champions Cup is the premier soccer brand and event in North America. We are thrilled to work with a talented, forward-thinking group at Relevant Sports Group and be a part of the explosion of soccer fandom in the United States.”
Through the deal, Stage Front will also aim to increase the value of partnerships by investing in customer activation through digital advertising. It will provide online customer journey statistics and trends, traffic spikes, timing, geography, and other consumer behavioural data along with feedback on digital marketing programmes.
Relevent Sports, which is owned by billionaire Stephen Ross, who also owns the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, saw the ICC men’s event feature clubs such as Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the 2019 edition, playing 18 matches in 17 venues across the world.
The International Champions Cup, which was established in 2013 to be one of international football’s premier club events, is “100 per cent planning” to hold games safely in front of fans in 2021, in both the US and Asia.
Ticket sales are the largest source of revenue for the tournament – a little more than 50 per cent in normal years, Sportico reports.
Aidan Lyons, Relevent Sports Group’s head of growth marketing and business intelligence, added: “Working with Stage Front allows us to maximise the extensive data we have gathered over the past decade about soccer fans in the United States and Asia.
“In today’s competitive environment ticket distribution requires a deeper understanding of customer behaviour. This partnership and our ability to use extensive market analytics will set us apart in the industry.”
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