From the boardroom
Chief Operating Officer Chris Pearlman brings fans up to date on events and progress off the pitch at Swansea City in today's edition of Jack Magazine.
You can read what he has to say below:
Hello and welcome back to the Liberty Stadium.
It’s been a very busy summer off the pitch as the club prepared for a new season in a new league.
While relegation to the Championship certainly has its challenges from a business perspective, our new league status has also provided a host of new opportunities and areas of potential growth for the club, a number of which will bring the club even closer to our supporters and the community.
A prime example of that is our new SwansTV Live platform, where fans are able to access streams of our matches this season on our website and app from around the world.
The club has opted out of the EFL’s iFollow platform and has instead invested resources into an enhanced, ‘Swansea City-centric’ multi-camera video production of our matches along with a new broadcast studio at the Liberty.
Fans overseas will get access to every match not already being broadcast in their country, while those in the UK will be able to stream Swans TV Live for matches not picked up by Sky or not within the 3pm Saturday slot.
With relegation we recognise the content that our media department produces is all the more important because we will be losing some of the global reach and coverage that went along with being in the Premier League.
I hope you continue to enjoy the quality and breadth of the content they distribute through social media and on our website.
On the sponsorship front, I’d like to welcome our new front of shirt partner, BETUK, to the Swansea City family.
You also may notice a cleaner look within the stadium from a sponsor branding perspective.
This was part of a strategic effort to maximise the visibility and impact for our larger club and stadium sponsors.
We wanted to cut down on brand clutter within television broadcasts while at the same time making sure the club gets appropriate value for the enhanced placement of our partners.
With that in mind, we have sold naming rights to all four stands: Trade Centre Wales (East), Energy Check (South), Swansea University (West) and Visit Wales (North). The commitment each of these partners has made to the club is greatly appreciated.
We are also thrilled to welcome back to the club our regional partners Low Cost Vans and Peter Lynn & Partners, as well as global partners Bet365 and Carling.
Some local advertisers and companies have taken up different inventory as part of our new City Business Network.
We had a very successful Fans Q&A last month where supporters had the opportunity to meet Graham and his staff and ask them questions. As part of the evening there was also a productive exchange about non-footballing matters. We are going to look to do a number of these types of events over the course of the season.
Additionally, we are implementing a series of fan focus groups across different areas of the club to cover matchday experience, digital and community/charity to get better supporter insight. You can volunteer to be on a focus group by emailing support@swanseacity.com.
On the topic of fan and community engagement, we are very excited that Leon Britton has joined Lee Trundle as a club ambassador.
They will work hard to bring the club closer to the community, particularly in schools and at the grassroots level.
Most importantly, we are grateful for the continued backing of all of you as we move forward and look to regain our momentum and deliver a product, both on and off the pitch, that all of you are proud to support.
Enjoy the match.
Chris
