Watford FC rewards fans with cash

Edited by the Marketingservicestalk editorial team Jul 18, 2008

Watford FC will be partnering with Reward and Fortress GB to introduce football's first high-street loyalty cashback programme.

The ClubCash programme will be launched in July this year and will enable Watford Football Club supporters to earn/save cash to spend within the football stadium, every time they shop at participating retailers including JJB Sports, Halfords, Superdrug and online at HMV, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

When Watford Season/Fan Card holders make purchases through the ticket office and retail outlets, they will automatically be registered into the ClubCash programme.

All members need to do is register their debit/credit cards online and whenever they spend at participating retailers they automatically earn cash to make purchases anywhere in the Watford FC stadium.

To claim their cashback, similar to an oyster card, ClubCash members scan their Season/Fan Cards at the point of sale and the amount is simply deducted from their ClubCash account.

This is made possible by Watford's unique integration between their access control, ticketing, retail and catering systems.

The programme plans to reduce time taken at the till and to give fans the chance to earn additional cash by simply choosing where they shop.

Michael Jones of Watford Football Club commented: "Our aim with introducing ClubCash is to give something back to our fans and hope that their normal lifestyle spend will go some way to contributing towards the cost of supporting their club, be it on season tickets, replica shirts or a hot dog on match day.

"It is our hope that this programme not only gives our fan base something for nothing, but the technology also provides them with faster service within the stadium creating a better atmosphere on match day".

Gavin Dein, Founder and CEO of Reward, said: "With football becoming more and more expensive for supporters, it is great to be able to create a loyalty programme that actually allows fans to easily earn and redeem meaningful rewards.

"The Watford FC ClubCash programme is a perfect example of how clubs can give back to their loyal fans".

Richard Pinnick, Global Business Development, Fortress GB, commented: "eMoney or 'ClubCash' is a key application for Fortress GB, and our cashless venue capability is built into the core Fortress Smart Stadium solution.

"This enables fans to use their existing season, member or access smart card to not only enter the stadium, but also to pay for their drinks and merchandise in and around the stadium.

"The partnership with Reward represents a new dimension in loyalty.

"By directly linking a fan's everyday purchasing spend with their spend in the Stadium, the fan can now benefit from their loyalty to the Club in an instant and meaningful way on a Saturday afternoon while watching his favourite team".