Club Mirror - survey feature - Ian Freeman part one - home entertainment In our 2002 Market Report Survey, of those clubs that claimed to be under-performing, 40% blamed the increased availability of entertainment in the home, especially satellite and cable TV. The number of homes with digital TV has now reached almost 9m - that's a third of the country - but the rapid rate of growth of the last three years is slowing down. Research has shown that the two-thirds of households who don't yet have digital include a high proportion of people who say they don't actually want it, a fact which may well impact on the government's target of universal access to digital TV by 2010. Big-screen TV in general, and sports in particular, have been for some years a sure-fire way of attracting members and guests into the club. But with so many people now happy to watch Sky Sports in their own - or someone's else's - home on a widescreen TV, with a few cans from the offie and a home-delivered pizza, what can clubs do to draw members back to enjoy the excitement and near-live atmosphere of major sporting events? Frank Brown of the Acacia Hall Sports and Social Club in Dartford, Kent, has taken a stance against the penetration of entertainment into the home by running pro-active promotions based around major sports events. "In such a competitive market-place, with the cinema, eating out and the internet vying for people's leisure time as well as TV, you have to do something special to drag people out the house." he says. Frank makes sure members know what a fun atmosphere can be achieved in a club with 200 or more people watching a match. He has a DJ playing records before the match, when a goal scored, and after, to get crowd going and he sells jugs of beer to make visits to the bar less frequent, so helping customers not to have to queue. "Sometimes I'll do half price-drinks until the first goal is scored" Frank goes on, "and I make sure my bar-staff talk up matches to members, so they know what a great evening they'll miss if they stay at home". Peter Hunt runs the King's Heath Cricket and Sports Club in Birmingham. "We're not affected by people having Sky at home" he says, "but when a match is on terrestrial TV, it is noticably quieter. Club managers must make sure the event is advertised to members, but it's difficult these days to know which channel - or even which digital broadcast system - matches are on! Sky charge clubs a premium but seem to offer very little support on marketing - they change match timings at the last minute and don't inform us. And the listings magazine they supply is hard to read and often out of date." Some clubs, such as Adderley Green WMC near Stoke-on-Trent and Club Mirror Club of the Year, Aberdare's Cwmaman Public Hall and Social Club, have not noticed a reduction in attendance for sporting events. "My weekend business is up and I haven't had to do any promotions" says Adderley Green's John Pyatt and Ian Roberts from Cwmaman says "Even though many members have Sky at home, they come to the club for the atmosphere and social environment. Big-screen sport is so popular that we screen it in 3 rooms, using 7 TV sets, one big screen, two Sky digiboxes and ITV Digital too!" Promotions are also seen as a way to win back lost trade by Tracey Ansell, general manager of the Cobdown Sports and Social Club in Ditton. "We usually have a beer promotion during football matches, from kick-off until final whistle, a 'buy-two-get-one-free' or cheaper pints" she says. And with World Cup matches being shown early in the mornings due to the time difference between the UK and Japan and Korea, it's going to be even harder to get sports fans out of bed and into the club. "We will be doing breakfasts during the World Cup" says Frank Brown. "There'll be a healthy option for our fitness-club members or normal fry-ups. We'll have flags and posters up for all matches for a week before, to ensure members are in no doubt who's playing when." Brian Cane of the UK Paper Leisure Club in Sittingbourne, Kent had his big-screen TV installed 4 years ago, paid for with sponsorship from Scottish Courage. Brian has noticed a slight decrease in attendance at TV sports events over the past 2 years, but says his trade is not being unduly affected. "We advertise events in our members' newsletter and may offer half-price drinks at half time, but why do cheap beer when you know you're going to be full anyway? Smaller clubs out in the country may have to promote more, just to get people to make the trek in, but we're not really affected. Peter Dangerfield of Owl Video Systems, a major supplier of big-screen kit to clubs and pubs says "We're as busy as we were just before the last World Cup, which means we are having to pull all the stops out to fulfil orders. Demand has increased since we launched new equipment which provide clubs with near cinema-quality pictures." For an investment of around £4,000, Owl can provide a smoke- and dust-resistant LCD projector or a Digital Light Projector which is guaranteed nicotine proof. Both systems offer extreme clarity. Peter says "Some clubs' big screen systems do look a little dated now. We will be happy to demonstrate the new technology to any club who would like to see just how much it has moved on over the past few years." "Our research shows that sports fans are staying 'in', in the sense that they are staying indoors, but they choose to stay in with others in bars and clubs rather than staying at home" BSkyB's Nicola Browning tells us. "Clubs and bars are becoming the new football terraces because they can get a drink, something which is no longer permissible at football grounds. They get a better 'seat', a better view of the action, because of the number of cameras and they get instant action replays and slow-motion of the best play." Sky's figures show that, on average, 3.4 million fans each week choose to watch Sky Sports on licensed premises. Sky Sports Pub Quiz, a game provided by Sky to entertain customers in bars, is another potential profit-enhancer. The 30 minute football quiz adds to the excitement and fun and is shown before, or after, the game to encourage customers to visit earlier or stay longer. Nicola, understandably, disagrees with Peter Hunt's view of Sky's back-up services. "The Pub Channel offers landlords a range of helpful business tips and advice on how best to market Sky Sports within their licensed premises" she says. "We also provide a monthly sports listings and Pub Channel programme guide in our free Sky digital pubs and clubs subscriber magazine, 'The Preview'. We try to give up-to-date information on match days and times, but in such a competitive market, schedules often change at the last moment."