Tappit offers the cashless solution 

Tappit is a global provider of cashless solutions that can help events, attractions, stadiums and venues to increase profit, gain insights and improve fan experiences. 

Founded in 2018, Tappit has quickly become the cashless experts, having already complied an impressive client list including Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Padres, Formula One and Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Tappit strives to enhance live event experiences for fans, providing technology and data to the organisers to get the best out of what they intend to do. All this links towards improving customer experiences, giving a greater return on profitability.

As more and more people make the switch towards cashless, they will find it easy, fast and convenient to use. It boosts profits for organisations and gives a safer environment for fans. 

The solutions provided by Tappit are suitable for sports clubs or any other similar organisers. 

Tappit Mobile Pay: Puts the app at the centre of all customer activities to set a new standard in fan experience. Through a seamless, single mobile ecosystem, there can be contactless payments, access control, loyalty and ticketing all in the one place, with benefits to match. 

  • Safe – Keeping guests and staff as safe as possible in relation to COVID-19 protocols. By eliminating the need for physical cash, this minimises human contact. Not only this, but secure QR technology will significantly reduce the risk of fraud and theft. 
  • Frictionless – Creating a seamless spending experience for events will maximise fan engagement. This means communication is integrated directly inside the app so customers have everything they require in one destination. Understanding fan’s end-to-end spending habits is highly rewarding. 
  • Simple – The easy-to-use Mobile Pay software is a straightforward upgrade to an existing POS system. There is minimal hardware investment or staff training involved, while the QR code technology creates a familiar customer experience for all fan demographics. 
  • Fully agnostic – Tappit do not compete with banking partners, so Mobile Pay can be integrated with loyalty schemes, reward initiatives and existing venue & financial partners. Tappit provides complementary solutions to enhance the work of an organisation’s partners.
  • Increase value for sponsors – A complete customer view ensures that sponsors can understand who their VIPs are and the best ways to target them. Selecting Tappit’s white label solution enables the creation of a new sponsorship category and provides the organisation with new assets to monetise. 
  • Completely understanding fans – Overseeing the customers’ spending journey and retaining the relevant data will introduce access to the most valuable business insights. This gives a better glimpse into how to attract and engage attendees and increase the event’s profitability simultaneously. 

Cashless RFID system: Improving fan experience, boost takings and gather 360 customer insights without the need of WiFi at the venue. Tappit’s cashless RFID technology delves deeper than just contactless payments. 

  • Boost profitability – The positives of eliminating cash are almost endless in their possibilities, with the trend growing towards making more transactions via credit card. Tappit has elaborated that going cashless will increase gate takings by 22% on average, while transactions are made 80% faster. 
  • Enhanced fan experience – The RFID system reduces queues, increase sales and gives fans more time to enjoy the event they paid for. Understanding every fan unlocks marketing opportunities through personalised offers based on previous behaviours and incentivises them by having rewards and digital vouchers. 
  • A completed view of every fan – Fans are served better when the organisation gets to know them better. The RFID system has the data to assess a fans’ spending – where and when. 
  • Keeping fans and staff safe – RFID’s one-tap payments keep attendees and the workforce safe, similar to how Mobile Pay operates. Importantly, the risk of fraud and theft is minimised and with Tappit’s innovative functionality there are plenty more features such as Yellow Card through to Safety Wristbands.
  • Tech-light integration – Tappit’s technology complements existing infrastructure. They work closely to get the ideal design happening quickly and efficiently. The system does not require an overhaul to existing infrastructure or need a complicated set up requiring a multitude of integrations.  

Tappit extends further to what just happens at an event, they also deliver Tappit Insights as part of their solution package. For each fan, the organisation gets a complete 360-degree view.  

Tappit is able to integrate data across an ecosystem, including ticket data through purchases, parking and loyalty schemes. They can then turn this into valuable insights with instant access to a holistic view about a visitor’s spending and behaviour trends to guide organisations in the right direction for profitable planning and decision making.  

Tappit changes the game from a typical POS report to a unique platform that connects purchases directly to a fan – unprecedented data and insights are achieved. 

To learn more about Tappit, including case studies and resources, you can find it here.  

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PFA Annual Report Highlights Key Concerns for A-League Players

The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) have released their 2024 Annual A-League Men’s report. This analysis has highlighted key successful areas of last season and importantly areas of growth in the league.

This review uses a wide range of data but importantly uses a strong player-based approach.

A key tool for data collection for this report is the A-League Men’s end-of-season survey conducted voluntarily online between May 7-31, 2024. This survey received 191 player responses, a record number with at least 13 players from each club.

The survey provides a comprehensive and representative source of player insights for policymakers, offering robust comparisons across the league.

Categorised below are some key factors of the report.

International Benchmarking

The Twenty-First Group’s World Super League model provides insights into the A-League Men’s (ALM) competitive positioning.

The analysis employed a machine learning approach, rating team strengths based on performance and player movements from ten relevant leagues over six seasons. The ALM ranks eighth among these competitions as a second-tier Asian league.

The salary cap system contributes to the consistent team strengths, with a slight overall decline in score over six years likely attributed to league expansion. Despite this, the ALM’s league ranking remained stable.

From a player development perspective, the analysis offers guidance for international transfers to leagues that offer promising development pathways for Australian players looking to progress in their international careers.

Transfer Revenue

The Australian A-League Men (ALM) has experienced a remarkable transformation in its transfer market dynamics as a significant talent production and export market over recent years.

In 2024, ALM clubs received at least $17.5 million in transfer fees, with the total value potentially exceeding $20 million, significantly up from the approx. $10 million in 2023 and the $2.5 million average in past seasons.

This growth represents a fundamental shift in the domestic men’s football economy. For the first time, transfer revenue is now surpassing broadcast revenue.

In the context of the broader market, while ALM revenues have grown quickly, they remain a fraction of those in slightly more advanced leagues.

AFC Club Competitions

Previously, AFC competitions were often more costly than beneficial.

However, in the new 3-tier continental club competitions for 2024, the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) qualifying for the eight-match group stage guarantees $1.23m, with an additional $150k per win. Champions can earn at least $18.5m.

The ACL2, Which CC Mariners won last season, provides $462k for group stage participation and $77k per win, with champions potentially earning up to $5m. ALM clubs receive one berth in both the top two tiers.

Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, players will receive an increasing share of prize money from the Round of 16 onwards.

Player Profiles

The PFA conducted a comprehensive analysis of match minutes across six leagues: A-League Men (ALM), J1 League, K League 1, MLS, Scottish Premiership, and Belgian Pro League.

The analysis revealed that Australian and Belgian leagues stood out, with over 10% of match minutes played by under 20s, compared to less than 5% in the other four competitions.

The introduction of scholarship players outside the salary cap has notably reduced the league’s average age, emphasizing its commitment to youth development.

Attendance

Average attendance for regular season matches has increased to 8,076 from 7,553 in 2022-23, but crowds have still not recovered to their pre-COVID levels.

Excluding the lowest attended teams of Western United and Macarthur FC the average attendance last season was 9,232, 14% higher than the 8,076 overall average.

Though the overall bias against crowd attendance can be assumed to be not as prevalent as people think, identifying this can help deal with the situations that hinder attendance.

Competitive balance

Competitive balance overall was strong with 7% of matches featuring a margin of four or more goals and 7% decided by three goals.

There was a tight race for the top 6 and the bottom two teams from 2022-23, Macarthur and Melbourne Victory, both made the finals, demonstrating the strong competitive balance of the ALM across seasons.

CBA Progress

Total player payments were around $57.8m in 2023-24, down slightly from the all-time high of $58.8m the previous season with the average payments per club being around $4.8m. This was well above the salary cap of $2.6m.

The vast majority of exempt payments from the cap were those to Marquee and Designated players. The average spend on Scholarship Players was just under $300k per club.

This report describes how revenues from transfer fees and a more lucrative AFC Champions League present new financial opportunities for our clubs.

Player Perceptions

According to the PFA end-of-season survey, 50% of ALM players were dissatisfied and 27% were very dissatisfied with how APL has performed in its management of the competition.

46% of players had ‘low trust’ in APL regarding developing a vision to improve the league.

The PFA was rated highest by the players, with 91% satisfied with its performance regarding ALM and 64% having high trust in the PFA to develop a vision.

In issues of the league, trajectory players outlined fan core experience as a centre stage with more than half including Broadcast (58%) and Atmosphere (51%) in their top three with Visibility and Branding/Marketing coming in second.

Workplace Safety

The PFA end-of-season survey uncovered concerning findings regarding the safety of ALM players’ workplaces.

11% of ALM players felt their club environment was either physically or psychologically unsafe and one in five players (20%) said they or a team-mate were unwilling to discuss issues with coaching staff and 16% with club management. 7% of players reported instances of players being forced to train alone at their clubs.

Though only a few clubs were reported on this, is still regarded as an industry issue.

Extreme weather

Last season one in six ALM matches was impacted by extreme weather with extreme heat the main culprit. 58% of players indicated the conditions impacted the players’ performances and 9% of player performances were hindered overall.

Club Index

Sydney FC was rated as the league’s best-performing club in the overall Club Performance Index, after placing in the top three for the sub-indices for Operations, Facilities, and Culture.

Pitch and atmosphere ratings

A-League players rated Wellington’s Sky Stadium with perfect marks for its pitch quality also and a four-star average for the match atmosphere.

Adelaide’s Coopers Stadium, AAMI Park, where also highly rated by ALM players with an average around the 4 stars mark. Victory home matches received an average of 4.4 for atmosphere.

The lowest rated were Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, averaging just 2.1.

Though other factors are included for pitch quality like other events, Players should still not be subject to substandard and potentially dangerous conditions.

Conclusion

Though the report shows that in many aspects the sport is moving in the right direction, the responses from players on their welfare and on the need for more attendance is a worrying sign for the management.

This assessment is a strong example of the PFA’s dedication towards the sport in Australia and maintaining the strong relationship between the Football industry and the players themselves.

The key points of this report should be central to plans within A-League and Australian Football itself.

How to grow your soccer club through SEO

Members are the lifeline of any soccer club, but it can be a tricky task to gain more. Fortunately, you can grow your soccer club through SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, and potentially boost memberships exponentially.

SEO is the process of refining online content to be deemed more favourable by search engine algorithms, therefore placing it higher in search results.

Web goers are far more likely to visit higher search results than lower ones, and thus sites that can consistently place at the top of search results will receive far more web traffic.

For your soccer club, the greater level of web traffic you have, the greater your chance of gaining more memberships.

While the process of SEO may seem large, complicated and ultimately daunting – this guide will provide simple ways to boost your SEO practices.

Understanding your club’s online position 

Before you begin implementing SEO practices, it’s important to acknowledge how your club is tracking online.

If your club has a website, check for an analytics section. Website builders like Wix and WordPress offer analytics information such as the amount of web traffic a site receives, or which pages on a site are accessed the most.

If you do not have a club website or want to improve it, click here for Soccerscene’s club website guide.

If you want to upgrade the level of analytics at your disposal, Google Search Console is an incredibly useful tool available. It allows you to see which search queries are bringing visitors to your site, in addition to far more.

Once you have checked your website’s analytics, make note of the successes and areas for improvements across your website. These notes will help you start your SEO practices.

Targeting the right audiences 

To attract new members, it’s important to target the right people and not just the most amount of people.

As a club, your SEO practices should always prioritise your local area. Your local area is where you are going to find the most likely people to join your club, and also the least competition from other clubs.

To target your local area effectively, create a Google My Business profile and add your club’s address and contact information. Here you can add your club to Google Maps, add photos and much more.

In addition to targeting your local area, consider what type of soccer club you are marketing for. Is it family friendly, social, competitive, or something else?

SEO Tips and Tricks

When you know the audience of your club, you can start implementing SEO practices.

Keywords: Keywords are the words people are using to search for content online. As a club, you want to be using specific keywords to draw in the right visitors, such as “inclusive”, “all-levels welcome”, “professional”, or “competitive”, depending on the audience you’re aiming for.

Keywords should be used multiple times across your website, especially in your title, Web URL, and in the first 100 words of text on a page. You should also include synonyms to your keywords across your content.

Linking: Search engines find sites easier when they are linked elsewhere. There are two types of SEO linking, internal and outbound links. Internal links are links within your website, while outbound links are to other websites.

When internal linking, try linking articles within your site to related content. When outbound linking, always link to trustworthy sites, and to related content. Outbound linking is also an SEO bonus to where you link to, so consider linking to your sponsors or local community directories.

Readability: It may seem obvious, but it is incredibly important to have a readable and navigable site. When visitors quickly click on and leave multiple websites, search engines assume the websites are unhelpful and thus lower the website’s rankings within their algorithms.

To prevent people from rapidly leaving, ensure that information on your site is easily laid out and concise. Bullet points and short paragraphs can assist with this.

Additionally, ensure pages are easy to access and avoid cluttered website designs.

Mobile Optimisation: The majority of searches are performed on mobile phones, so it’s vital to cater to them. Make sure your website design is navigable on a phone. Furthermore, ensure that image or file sizes do not cause lengthy load times on phones.

Chrome Lighthouse can run reports on how successful your mobile site is.

Conclusion 

In the modern footballing world, it is crucial to grow your soccer club through SEO. With so many businesses and clubs flocking towards it, now is the time to jump on board to boost the number of people interested in your club.

If you would like to know more, feel free to contact Football Pro Directory.

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