Understanding the Changing Demands of your Fans and Planning Accordingly is Crucial to Success Says Legends International After Foxes Deal Announced

Fans have higher expectations when they watch football matches and clubs have to understand those expectations and adapt to the changing marketplace if they are going to continue to thrive, according to Legends International President Andrew Hampel.

Leicester City recently appointed Legends International to carry out research relating to the proposed expansion of its King Power Stadium.

The research will provide Leicester City with a greater understanding of fans’ match-day routines and preferences. Legends will then use the output from the research to build accurate projections of future revenue, to provide a clear understanding of the optimal volume and specification for the redeveloped stadium and to create sophisticated pricing models to understand price sensitivity.  These models will then play a key part in the development of the full business plan for the redevelopment, which will ensure that with this ambitious investment in their stadium Leicester City are able to deliver the quality and variety of experience which their fans want both now and in the future.

With a wide range of leisure options for sports fans, clubs and events need to work harder to ensure fans are getting the best experience, says Hampel.

He said: “Leicester is a very diverse city and ensuring the development will deliver for the long-term fans and also bring new fans in and build on the club’s success means developing a market-appropriate range of options for the stadium.

“Not everyone will want to turn up just before kick-off, get a pie and a pint and walk home at the final whistle. Fans across the city have a wide variety of matchday routines and that means more food options and better facilities. When the stadium gets that right, and develops new fan zones and activities, this will give people a reason to come earlier and stay later.

Once the optimal business plan has been developed to meet the demands of the fans, Legends’ specialised project development team will be responsible for helping to integrate these into the design, to ensure that it works operationally and delivers the optimal returns from an experience and brand perspective as well as satisfying the financial objectives of the club.

“At Legends International, not only do we undertake research, we ensure that the vision for the superb facilities and services for sports fans is delivered – and that of course benefits the clubs in the long-run too because better facilities generate more revenue.”

Legends International were also integral to the development of the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which Hampel admits has raised expectations for clubs and fans alike across the country.

He added: “The work that Leicester City have engaged us to do is absolutely the right way to go about delivering to the fans the variety and quality of experiences that they want in a redeveloped stadium.

“There is an education process in the art of the possible as fans become more aware of the changing nature of the football matchday.

“We did very similar work with Tottenham Hotspur in the early stages of our engagement and throughout, from 2010 to the opening of the stadium earlier this year.

“But technology is also moving at such a pace that we have to continually reassess our strategy as new stadium developments emerge.”

The King Power Stadium has hosted England internationals including their recent game against Switzerland in September 2018.

It also hosted Rugby World Cup matches in 2015 as well as music concerts including local band Kasabian.

Leicester City moved into the stadium in 2002 from Filbert Street, which had been their home since 1891.

Legends International provides a range of services including feasibility and business planning, project development, ticketing and sponsorship sales, merchandising, retail, and food and drink provision.