Gould says there has been surprise
at the ECB at the number of people
engaging with county cricket online.
“It’s a big number. We’re very
proud of our track record of
bringing new people into cricket. Of
all our T20 ticket sales last year, 69
per cent had never been to a match
before. A lot of that is driven by
social media well before we do any
advertising.”
Surtees points out the appeal
to potential sponsors: “Certainly,
digital engagement is something
sponsors take very seriously and if
you can show that you run a good
social media operation, you’re able
to give sponsors value in the digital
arena as well, then that’s something
that is attractive to them.”
Kia collaborate with Surrey to
develop and fund bespoke social
media content including player
masterclasses. Social media acts
as a valuable customer service
tool during major ticket sales and
provides instant feedback when
things go wrong.
Gould embraces this as an
opportunity: “That makes social
media a really good tool for us. That’s
great for a business and rather than
shy away it, you want to harness it.
It’s sometimes quite painful, but it
helps you become a better club. It
allows you to be really reactive.”
Technology is also helping the
counties engage supporters inside
the grounds. At The Oval, highlights
packages and the live stream run
on screens around the ground. At
Trent Bridge, celebration GIFs play
out on social media and the big
screens whenever a player reaches
a milestone.
Temple said: “It’s about ensuring
that the in-venue experience at non-
televised matches is on a par with
the standards that are hit when Sky
Sports are in town.
“We want to ensure that those in
the ground are able to experience
the perks of a broadcast from their
seats. That required investment
in permanent screens, an in-
vision host, action replays, the
ultimate scoreboard and peripheral
entertainment, but we’ve seen
the benefits of that both in terms
of attendances and the feedback
supporters provide once they’ve
attended a Vitality Blast fixture.
“A lot has been made of the need
to find new audiences but we would
suggest that there are ways and
means of doing that while ensuring
that county members are extremely
well looked after. Members are
your most loyal supporters and
your biggest advocates, and if the
product is right, they will maintain
their membership for a lifetime.”
Northamptonshire have pioneered
an exciting new way of engaging
with fans by launching an app
which harnesses augmented reality.
AR triggers around the ground
activate unique content such as
finals day highlights, statistics and
interviews with players past and
present. The app launches a camera
which allows you to take branded
selfies and share them easily on social
media. In-play AR – which will allow
fans to access playing stats if they
point a phone at a player’s shirt – is in
development. The app also highlights
promotional offers and prize draws.
Marketing manager Ellie Emerson
says it is important to keep upwith the times: “Obviously T20 is
where the sport is moving and it’s
how we sustain ourselves as a club,
really, so it’s very important for us
to make sure that we’re up to date
and keeping up with football and
rugby clubs.
“It’s all about fan engagement.
It’s the ECB’s core objective and in
turn one of ours – the more we can
get people involved in a fun and
exciting, engaging way. Especially
with youngsters, everyone does
everything on their phones. What’s
great about the app is that it’s so
easy to reach people. The stuff we
can do with it is incredible.”
Some 2,500 people have
downloaded the app and Emerson
says the return on investment is
already “quite phenomenal”. Future
plans include allowing people to
purchase tickets through the app.
“We’re looking at commercialising
it, getting some sponsors on board
to do splash pages and various
things like that, which will pay for it
and then some.”
What else does the future hold?
Australia have taken streaming a
stage further by adding a roving
camera to supplement the static feed.
Gould says the counties are
preparing for life post-2020: “The
digital rights will change slightly.
So, a lot of the work is going in now
is really ground work for what could
happen later on down the line. It’s
all about this finding your audience
in that regard.
“The BBC are going to have more
cricket in 2020, but it’s the new
teams, it’s not us. So, we’ll be
working even harder to make sure
that people can find our voice.”Inside ‘the Vatican’ on match day
It is early on a damp Tuesday morning after a
bank holiday, but there is already an online buzz
around the imminent Royal London One-Day
Cup tie between Surrey and Sussex.
Anticipation is high ahead of Morne Morkel’s
Surrey debut. The online countdown starts over
the weekend, well ahead of the scheduled start
of play, as the Surrey communications team post
details of the squad on social media and preview
the fixture on the club website.
On match-day morning, former Leicestershire
player Joel Pope, now on the communications
team at The Oval, takes to the outfield with the
players to film the warm-ups. He grabs a few
words on camera with captain Rory Burns. This
ease of access is vital to getting the content
Surrey need to take fans behind the scenes.
As the players leave the field, Pope climbs
up the stairs to the social media nerve centre
just below the Oval scoreboard, appropriately
dubbed ‘the Vatican’ by players, to join colleague
Jack Wilson-Mumford.
The pair started working with their designer to
create bespoke pre-prepared graphics for each
digital platform as soon as the 2018 fixture list was
announced. With near-instant access to Getty
Images, it allows them to readily deploy images on
social media for every wicket or player milestone.
Wilson-Mumford provides a steady feed
of updates and short clips of key moments.
The technology allows him to edit a clip to aperfect length for Twitter, overlaid with BBC
commentary, and post it within a few minutes of
a wicket falling. He can even add slow-motion
replays and ball-tracking.
Rain falls as the players are about to take the
field but Wilson-Mumford and Pope remain at
their posts, keeping fans up to date via social
media about prospects of play. A day later Sam
Curran is called up by England, and his Test debut
features heavily throughout Surrey’s social feeds.
A week later they are back in their ‘Vatican’
vantage point where the cycle begins again.
Glamorgan bat first and Pope starts building
a highlights package which will run on the big
screen during the innings break and be made
available online later.thecricketer.com | 53Technology | Feature