In conversation with Rahul Rodrigues - VP FC Goa, discussing, efforts to increase fan engagement with the club

As a clear initiative to develop closer relations with its fan base, FC Goa have launched a unique club membership programme that offers fantastic packages to its fans. Spearheading this pet project is Local Boy Rahul Rodrigues, VP – Operations for FC Goa. Rahul possesses quiet an impressive CV having completed his Masters in Football Industries at the University of Liverpool and working for Reputed Barwick Media & Sport, under the former Chief Exec - FA, Mr. Brian Barwick with stints at Salgaocar & Vasco SC for good measure. Bobby Martins from TFG had an opportunity talk to Rahul Rodrigues and understand FC Goa's efforts to increase fan engagement with the club.

TFG: Before we touch on the supporter membership campaign, can you please share something about yourself that set you on the path of a Football Administrator?

Having lived my childhood and formative years in the vicinity of the Fatorda stadium and been able to witness legends like Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Bruno Coutinho, Savio Medeira, Mauricio Afonso & our very own coach Derrick Pereira from close quarters, I fell in love with the Beautiful game at a very young age. I went to represent my school and college teams and went on to captain the St. Aloysius college team in Mangalore between 2005-06. After a 3 year stint at Investment Banking firm Goldman Sachs in Bangalore,I relocated to the UK in 2009 to pursue my Masters in Football Industries and gain invaluable working experience at Barwick Media and Sport. Having moved back to India in 2012, I was fortunate to be very closely associated with football in Goa by virtue of Procam owning the GFA media and marketing rights, back then the U14 and U16 pan-India initiatives in collaboration with Celtic FC and Manchester United FC respectively was personally extremely beneficial and gave me the much needed exposure. That particular phase still continues to be one of the best seasons of the Goa Professional League in terms of revenue through sponsorships from a marketing perspective and crowd attendances as well. I was also privileged to have been closely involved with the revival of the prestigious Bandodkar Gold Trophy in 2015 after a gap of nearly 22 years.

TFG: FC Goa's membership is first of its kind across the league so what would you pick out as key attractions for those purchasing various plans?

To begin with, I would like to emphasise the membership plans offer much more value that transcends beyond just obtaining guaranteed ticket entry to games. There are broader aspects that can be easily broken down for our fans to understand:

Platinum – Premium, Exclusivity, Best seats in the house, Invite to the Awards Night and fantastic Match day & season long experience, Access to Platinum Member’s enclosure for the Member plus guests on Match day
Gold – Customized welcome kit, Match day & season long experience, Gold Member’s enclosure for the Member plus guests on Match day.
Silver- Affordable with a chance to book your seats in the stands for all nine games of the season, access to additional discounted season and match day tickets, FC Goa merchandise.
Bronze – FC Goa merchandise and monetary benefits on picking up just 2 additional tickets.

A) Matter of Pride by virtue of being an official Member in the inaugural year.
B) Avail a discount on season (15%) and match day tickets (10%) + early access if FC Goa qualifies for the play-offs. Thereby being able to obtain tickets at much lesser rates off face value
C) Closer to the action. An opportunity to interact with the players
D) A single platform to engage with other fans of the Club. App planned for the future enabling members to connect.
E) Loyalty points and discounts at over 75 retail stores, restaurants and pubs by Year 2.
F) Discounts and benefits on renewal in Year 2.

So if you take in to account the financial incentives in terms of discounts, privileges and match day experiences, a member ends up spending lesser than say someone just buying tickets for the games.

TFG: One of the most common concerns pointed out by Fans who mostly see it from a perspective of ticket pricing only is that the membership is too expensive. How would you justify the costs to them?

The process begin soon after the culmination of last season and the club has spent several months engaging with Fan clubs and groups, ensuring the benefits associated with each of the membership tiers were carefully curated. By virtue of signing up to the Membership program this year, not only will a Member be entitled to a Season ticket (other than the Bronze tier) and a range of benefits, but also have access to season tickets at discounted rates that shall prove more cost effective by purchasing as little as two additional tickets at . The price points were carefully deliberated and arrived at. And as pointed out in my previous response, the member saves further on purchase of season tickets through discounts, a privilege not available to non-members.

TFG: Season past have seen a lot of families come to the games. Are there special packages for them in mind?

This is the inaugural year of the membership and we aim to create an awareness of the programme without wanting to get ahead of ourselves. You will see a lot more benefits including special family packages on offer in the years to come. For now it is our communication is rather straightforward - one member per family / group of friends to sign-up for a membership and bring the rest along with you.

Membership plans are very prominent in Europe, what similarities you have drawn from them and customisations have made keeping the Goan Fan base in mind. We have set out on a long term vision of building club and brand loyalty amongst the fans. We are hopeful of getting to a stage 3-5 years down the line where a majority of the fans are members and season ticket holders.

We are fortunate to have some of the best fans in the ISL and we ensure to keep in touch with our fan clubs regularly. This year, we are exploring the possibility of organizing an annual fans forum through the course of the season. A forum would enable all our fan groups to connect and engage on a single platform and we hope to able to officially start recognising each of these groups. They are our eyes and ears and often give us an insight into the pulse on the ground. We are also looking at scheduling a town hall at some point during the season that shall involve all relevant stakeholders connected with
the sport in the State.

TFG: Local Fans have bemoaned lack of goan players in the WC-17 squad and considering last year’s performance, would you see that as a handicap? 

We have a total of 9 Goan players this year, more than in any of the previous three seasons. With a clear initiative to provide greater impetus to local talent, we have promoted 19year old Liston Colaco from our Development Team to the first team and 2 youngsters Kingslee Fernandes and Jonathan Cardozo accompanied the team to Spain for the pre-season to allow them the much needed exposure.

In addition to the 16 Grassroots centres spread across the State, in just the 4 th year of the club’s existence we have every age-group team in place, U13, U15, U18, U20 and the Developmental team, thereby offering an aspiring footballer the complete roadmap to becoming a professional. I would like to re-iterate our commitment to the cause of developing local talent.

TFG: One question as to what happens to the cub members in the next season? Are they given first priority to purchase membership plans or the process opens up to the general public from the get go?

Members will not only have Priority on Renewal but will be offered the opportunity to renew at special prices by virtue of their leap of faith, loyalty and patronage in Year 1. Should we make it to the play-offs this year; Members will be given early access to tickets.

I’d like to conclude by saying that the interest and demand for Memberships has been overwhelming. We have exceeded the targets we had set ourselves for Year 1 and will be closing Memberships for the year shortly.

TFG: From a business perspective, are there any opportunities for interested companies reading on that would like to be part of this and what the value you see in this?

Just to give you couple of figures, 216 million tuned in to watch ISL 3 with total viewership rising by an astounding 41%. More importantly as far as stadium attendances go, an average of 84% of seating capacity was filled across the country. This provides an excellent platform for us to grow and the subsequent brand value it offers our partners by coming on board with us with tie opportunities ranging from 10 k to 25 lacs. This is another key part of our objective of engaging with the community through local businesses as well. That why we have carefully kept the options very flexible.