The commercial side to sports clubs can be crucial the way they operate, in some cases it can be the differences between thriving or going out of business.
In all sports, off the pitch income has the potential to put clubs on a different level to their competitors.
For a professional rugby league side there is three main ways of revenue and at the Rhinos, Ben Turnbull Business Development Manager said: “I think like most clubs revenue it can be broken down into three main areas: TV rights and broadcasting are very important, then commercial, which is essentially sponsorship and partnership and also matchday.”
Sponsorships can drive a club forward
Sponsorships are a huge part in sport and one way of gaining additional income for professional clubs is through hospitality.
In the Yorkshire region the starting price for a hospitality box is the most expensive at Yorkshire CCC at £200, with the cheapest at the Leeds Knights for £35.
“You do have partnerships that are led by emotive business owners who are really good for the club and they are the ones who will take use of the hospitality all season long, we need them.” Turnbull said.
Despite Yorkshire CCC being the most expensive, the football sector is still prominent in the graph with Leeds United charging the most out of any football club at £160pp with Barnsley the lowest at £45.
Merchandise prices around West Yorkshire
As well as the commercial side there is also matchday revenue which includes merchandise. Turnbull said: “It is vital, and we see it everywhere. Fans demand it and in terms of revenue it is part of the matchday revenue stream.”
In the West Yorkshire region Leeds United have the highest price of a shirt at £65 and Harrogate Town have the lowest at £44.
Shirt sales are not only a good way to gain revenue from fans but also gain money from sponsorship deals as it creates great exposure, between 2007-08 $62.8 billion globally was spent globally on sport sponsorship deals.
One of these was at Arsenal. It saw Emirates sponsor Arsenal in 2004 and then extended in 2018, in a deal worth £200 million.
Stadiums can also boost revenue
Many stadiums in the professional world of sport can be a big pull factor for revenue as they can attract major sponsors and investments.
At Leeds Rhinos Turbull said: “We have world class facilities” that are used in both the Super League but also the recent Rugby League World Cup.
Turnbull said: “Hopefully we see a positive impact and it generates new sponsorships for us,” when speaking about the legacy and impact of the World Cup.
