Ulster Rugby vs Bordeaux Begles

COMMERCIAL UPDATE

SEASON TICKETS The 16/17 season delivered another year of growth as the Ulster faithful has reached 10,562, including 590 Junior season tickets. Reputed to be one of the best stadiums for atmosphere across Europe, it is little surprise that season ticket holders stated their key reasons for purchase are loyalty to the team, match night experience and exclusive Season Ticket holder benefits. We have implemented some of the improvements asked for in our Season Ticket holder survey such as live music on match nights and additional bars, which we have through the new Red Bus Bar and the Prosecco Bar, both of which are proving popular with fans. Our aim is to continue to deliver exclusive benefits and a unique match night experience. We have hosted successful events such as ‘Meet the Players’ evenings and ‘The Heineken Rugby Club’. We hope to bring even more of this next season. ATTENDANCES

Stadium fixture of 40,527). We are conscious of the fact that tournament scheduling has handed us some testing kick off times, and we will continue to state our preference for Friday night games. The early Saturday kick off times give us an opportunity to welcome new audiences to the stadium. The Clermont match saw an increase in young families attending and also allowed those with longer travel times to attend - the result of this was a rocking atmosphere which lasted until well after final whistle. The passion, sportsmanship and Irish hospitality demonstrated to the Clermont fans, that I then saw replicated as we travelled to Clermont a week later, encapsulates what lies at the heart of our club and the fans should be very proud of this. PROFESSIONAL GAME SPONSORSHIP Sponsorship properties are again fully sold out for the fourth consecutive year, with many of our main sponsors such as Kingspan, Kukri Sports, Bank of Ireland, BT and Go Power secured in long-term deals. This time of year is always a really busy period for myself and the commercial team as we are currently renegotiating a significant amount of other sponsorship and partner contracts for the start of the 17/18 season. Our portfolio is really healthy and with interest from the marketplace we are in a strong position that we can look to attract the best partners for

COMMERCIAL UPDATE The unwavering loyalty of the fans resonates not just through Ulster but across the PRO12 venues as week in, week out, we see Ulster fans filling the terraces and stands, home and away. With an average attendance of 15,941 this

season, we sit just behind Leinster who top the PRO12 attendance table (Leinster include Aviva

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