James Bisgrove 2020 AGM Speech

IT is a privilege to speak at my second AGM as Commercial and Marketing Director at Rangers Football Club and have the opportunity to address the club’s valued shareholders.

Taking a step back and having grown up in the south of England, I thought I knew how big a club Rangers are. But, I must admit that, over the past 18 months, particularly since the onset of COVID, I am time and time again taken aback by the sheer magnitude of Rangers Football Club.

And it is under Stewart [Robertson]’s leadership and with great support of Douglas [Park], John[Bennett] and the entire RIFC board, that we as a Commercial and Marketing department are striving every day to grow all our revenues, but it’s also our ambition to increase our fan engagement, and ultimately grow the Rangers fan base worldwide.

Across the club’s management board, we often talk about a joined-up ‘one club’ strategy and vision. Everything we seek to achieve is directly aimed at supporting the product on the pitch, and commercial revenues are generated to support Ross [Wilson], Steven {Gerrard] and all our football operations.

So, the commercial year under review has seen many successes and strides forward but there is still huge room for improvement to unlock the full commercial potential of this club.

COMMERCAL SALES

I have been especially pleased with the progress we have made and the increase to all our core revenues, in particular areas such as commercial partnerships, RangersTV and MyGers .

At this juncture of the 2020/21 season, we sit with 32 commercial partnerships with a wide range national and globally recognised brands. I believe our commercial team is industry leading and continues to push the boundaries and remain ambitious, even in these challenging times.

We have welcomed new partners such as The Energy Check, Tomket Tires, SEKO, EightyOne, Cadbury and Molton Brown.

We are very fortunate that our principal club partners, such as Kindred Group (32 Red and Unibet), Utilita, Carrick and Tennent’s have all continued to support Rangers even during the challenging COVID period.

We are working exceptionally hard to ensure we deliver value for these partners, focusing on our digital assets, for example.

CASTORE

The new partnership with Castore represented a landmark commercial breakthrough for the football club, not least as all our previous kit and retail agreements came to a welcomed end, as was widely reported in the summer.

Whilst the commercial boost from the Castore deal was not reflected in the 2019/20 accounts, the signing of a new retail agreement was a significant milestone for our club on several levels and will be felt for many years to come.

Turning around a wide range of Rangers products and launching a kit and training range in a three month window, when every other kit manufacturer works to 18 month-lead times, in the middle of a pandemic, was a monumental achievement by Castore. The lengths and costs they went to were unprecedented because they wanted to deliver for the Rangers support.

The uptake on Rangers’ Castore products so far has been remarkable, but not unexpected given the backing the supporters give our club. In the first quarter of our partnership, over 200,000 Rangers’ products had been sold - these are unbelievable numbers and clearly have a direct and positive impact on our commercial revenues moving forward.

The launch of our new online store was another long-awaited development for the football club, which integrated seamlessly with our new industry leading club website.

Furthermore, the new Rangers Store at Ibrox is a daily reminder of the strides our club has taken. We look forward to a bustling store when fans return to Ibrox very soon, along with the Official Rangers Store at Buchanan Galleries and others that are set to open in 2021, including Glasgow Airport.

I’ve spent a great deal of time with Castore’s founders, Tom and Phil Beahon and their management team and Castore are proving themselves to be an innovative, premium brand with a real challenger mentality. With the luxury of a clear run at the 21/22 kit launces, we are incredibly excited about next seasons anniversary kit range and I know Castore are committed to delivering both high levels of product quality and customer service to Rangers support.

SEASON TICKET HOLDERS & HOSPITALITY

Although this season has begun so successfully, everyone at the club has a strong sense that something is missing at Ibrox with the loyal Rangers fan base unable to attend fixtures as we sit here today.

The fact that we sold out our season ticket and hospitality seats for the third consecutive year, in the knowledge that at least some games would be played behind closed doors was nothing short of remarkable and the club continues to be humbled by this level of support.

We are committed to ensuring Ibrox is ready for supporters, as soon as it is deemed safe to welcome fans back to the stadium and are encouraged by recent developments in England.

We continue to lobby the football authorities and the Scottish Government, whilst being respectful of the ongoing challenges of COVID. We remain optimistic that we are now weeks away from having supporters back at Ibrox rather than months.

RANGERSTV

In the meantime, we can say with conviction that our RTV experience for season ticket holders has been elevated to a level comparable to any major broadcaster as we sought to bring our season ticket holders as close to the live match day experience as possible.

Thanks to our worldwide fan base, subscription levels are at a record high and we are committed to providing excellent content on a daily basis, alongside substantial improvements in the technology offering, with a new app being launch this December.

We’ve worked hard to provide a best-in-class broadcast experience to supporters who are unable to attend Ibrox, highlighted by the pundit teams we have welcomed, such as Graeme Souness, Walter Smith, Ally McCoist, Neil McCann and Alex Rae, to name a few, working alongside top broadcast industry pro’s like Emma Dodds and Clive Tyldesley.

FAN EXPERIENCE

We will also continue to make advancements to the stadium technology which I view as important in the modernisation of our infrastructure and ensuring our digital transformation strategy is fully integrated across all supporter touch points.

The new WIFI technology, allowing us to enjoy a ‘connected stadia’, has been completed and is fully functioning and ready for supporters’ return. The EPOS contactless payment systems have also been installed throughout Ibrox, with thanks to our partnership with Sporting Pay, and the imminent new mid-tier LED advertising systems will also elevate the match day experience. We will continue our commitment to ensuring Ibrox Stadium is recognized as a leading European venue.

Edmiston House will take us to a new level in terms of fan engagement. The potential it will provide for a match day fan zone, the club museum, state of the art events and concerts space are all incredibly exciting assets for us to look forward to and will allow us to deliver firmly on our committed to increasing fan experience, both on match days at Ibrox and through our digital platforms.

DIGITAL & BRAND EVOLUTION

With our fans and partners in mind, our goal is to implement an industry-leading and dynamic digital transformation strategy, which is fully aimed at supporting the club’s continued growth plan. T

his evolution of our new brand identity with the refreshed Ready crest for a digital age, whilst respecting the heritage of Rangers and the new industry-leading club website and app, will all provide us a springboard to grow global audiences and, ultimately, drive greater commercial revenues.

MYGERS

Supporter engagement and our strong desire to bring Rangers supporters closer to the club, is epitomised by our new membership scheme, MyGers.

We currently sit with nearly 28,000 members, which is the largest club membership scheme in Scotland and one of the largest in the British football.

The ability to provide benefits through our club partners, ticketing priority, access to club discounts and access to exclusive competitions and experiences show our commitment to increasing fan engagement.

Post-COVID, we have some incredibly exciting events planned, such as an open training session at Ibrox with complimentary invitations to MyGers members.

MYGERS revenue feeds directly through to supporting the first-team operations, as recently underlined by Ross Wilson, so all MyGers members play an integral role in any success achieved at this club.

INTERNATIONAL

The development of Rangers on the international stage remains a key objective in our long-term club strategy. This is how we will grow our audiences and ultimately revenues beyond the UK.

India:

The strategic club partnership with Bengalaru FC has resulted in an increased audience for Rangers in a growing football market and economy.

A particular highlight of this has been our innovative partnership with Star Sports, whereby millions of Indian football fans now tune in to watch Rangers matches every week.

We are looking forward to welcoming Bengalaru FC to Glasgow next summer and the signing of the broadcast deal will give Rangers and the SPFL Premiership unprecedented visibility in India and with it, a unique opportunity for both the club and Star Sports to develop commercially.

North America:

Similarly, through our partnership with USL side Orange County SC in California, we are now beginning to see benefits on both the football and commercial side of the club. The launch of the behind-the-scenes documentary of the partnership is particularly exciting, and will be broadcast on CBS Sports alongside their Champions League programming in the US.

SUMMARY

In summary, I’d like to convey my personal thanks to our shareholders and the RIFC Board for their phenomenal support and emphasise again huge gratitude to the Rangers support, who are backing the club in so many different ways in fantastic numbers right across season tickets, RTV, MyGers, hospitality and our new retail deal.

We are delighted to be placing further foundations ahead of our 150th Year anniversary celebrations in 21/22 and continue rapid progress with plans for Edmiston House, which I know Stewart will touch upon in his address.

I am immensely proud of what the commercial and marketing department has achieved in the last year and it’s a credit to the talented and committed small team of people that are all striving collectively to move Rangers forward.