As a commercial manager at a football club, your main goal is simple: deliver value to your sponsors. Yet, many clubs fail to meet sponsor expectations. Not because they lack ambition, but because their tools are outdated and their processes too manual.
From the outside, sponsoring a club might seem like buying logo space and handing out VIP tickets. But we knew there had to be more to it. So we spoke with commercial managers, B2B ticketing managers, and sponsors to find out what they actually care about.
What we found is this: sponsorship is no longer just about visibility. It’s about reputation, relationships, and experience. And without the right tools in place, clubs risk losing contracts they could have kept.
In this blog post, we’ll explore what sponsors really expect and how B2B ticketing automation helps you deliver on those expectations.
What Sponsors Actually Expect
For many clubs, sponsorship revenue accounts for a substantial portion of the total income. Despite this, sponsors often leave at the end of their contracts. In many cases, they are not receiving the value they were promised. Clubs tend to over-focus on visibility. However, it is only one part of the story.
Sponsoring companies typically look for three key elements:
1. Meaningful visibility
Being seen matters, but what matters more is the context. Sponsors want their brand to be linked to emotional and impactful moments. This could be a winning goal, a historic rivalry, or the energy of a passionate fan base. These are the moments that connect with people and build lasting brand value.
2. A reputation they can stand behind
Sponsors want to associate with clubs that reflect professionalism and trust. They pay attention to the stadium atmosphere, safety protocols, and how organized the club is on and off the pitch. If fans behave well and the entry process is smooth and secure, the club becomes a more attractive partner. In leagues like the Premier League, this shift toward more respectful environments has helped bring in global commercial partners.
3. Business development opportunities
Sponsorship is more than just marketing. It is also a sales and networking tool. Sponsors invite business clients, strengthen relationships, and use hospitality areas to close deals. They expect the club to support this by offering efficient and flexible ticketing processes.
The Real Bottleneck: B2B Ticketing Still Relies on Outdated Tools
Despite the importance of B2B sponsorships, most clubs still rely on outdated systems for ticket distribution. In many cases, sponsors must manually enter guest information into Excel files or internal tools. The process is time-consuming, prone to mistakes, and creates unnecessary friction.
In Belgium, the Royal Decree of Ticketing requires every ticket to be linked to a named individual. Nameless tickets are not allowed. This makes the process even more complex. Some clubs try to get around this by using workarounds or relying on sponsors to take care of identification themselves. Others attempt partial automation but struggle with usability and adoption.
This is where B2B ticketing automation becomes essential. It offers a way to comply with regulations while improving the overall experience for both the club and the sponsor.
Matchday Challenges and the Need for Flexibility
Matchday often brings last-minute changes. Guests cancel. Substitutions need to be made. Some guests may support the visiting team, which can raise concerns at the gate
Without a real-time view of guest data, the club risks non-compliance, crowding at entry points, or even security concerns. From the sponsor’s perspective, a lack of flexibility adds stress and reduces the value of the experience.
B2B ticketing automation addresses this issue by offering better visibility, easier updates, and a more professional flow of communication between the sponsor and the club.
How B2B Ticketing Automation Solves These Pain Points
TruCrowd designed FaceTicket Flow based on direct feedback from clubs and sponsoring companies. The system automates the entire B2B ticketing process from invitation to gate access.
Here is how it helps:
Automatic guest data entry
Guests are invited through a link and can fill in their personal information themselves. This data is verified and connected to the ticket. There is no need for the sponsor to fill out long spreadsheets or manually upload IDs.
Thanks to eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) technology, the guest’s identity can be verified securely and automatically during registration. This ensures compliance and enhances security without adding complexity.
Flexible ticket reassignment
If a guest cannot attend, the ticket is returned to the sponsor, who can reassign it in just a few clicks. All stakeholders are automatically updated with the new guest information.
Live status overview
Sponsors and clubs both have a real-time view of which guests are confirmed, which tickets are pending, and who is expected at the gate. This improves operational coordination and ensures compliance.
Improved experience for sponsors
The process is faster, easier, and more professional. Sponsors save time and can focus on their business relationships rather than chasing guest data or managing last-minute changes.
Simple Integration into Existing Systems
The great news is that B2B ticketing automation, like TruCrowd’s FaceTicket Flow, can be seamlessly added to your existing electronic ticketing systems. There’s no need to replace the systems you already use. Instead, you can enhance and streamline your current processes, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal disruption.
No More Trade-Offs Between Experience and Compliance
In the past, clubs often had to choose between offering a seamless experience or staying compliant with strict identification rules. B2B ticketing automation removes that trade-off. It makes it possible to deliver both.
For commercial managers, this means delivering more value to sponsors without increasing pressure on the team. It means turning sponsorship into something more than a logo placement or a lounge seat. It becomes a real asset to both the sponsor and the club.
If your club is looking to modernize its ticketing and take its sponsor partnerships to the next level, B2B ticketing automation is the way forward. TruCrowd’s biometric solution ensures seamless access for guests while giving clubs and sponsors the flexibility and control they need to deliver real business value.
If you’re looking to further enhance the value of your sponsorships and improve your ticketing processes, you might find our article on fan data monetization insightful. It offers a closer look at how clubs can unlock new revenue streams by leveraging fan data.
