Cheltenham Town FC, alongside most of the clubs in the EFL, have joined the iFollow streaming service to allow supporters to watch their fixtures live whilst fans are not allowed into stadiums.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, football fans have not been allowed into stadiums since March and with major broadcasting services such as Sky and BT focusing their attention towards the Premier League and the Championship, lower league clubs have suffered financially without the influx of fans buying tickets every week.
However, iFollow has offered up a solution, clubs can opt into their service where supporters can purchase game passes allowing them to watch their club live, listen to audio commentary and get access to behind the scenes content.
The Robins’ supporters have certainly enjoyed the service being provided by iFollow, with over 4,000 fans purchasing match day passes since the start of the season, this number excluding the number of passes given to season ticket holders for free.
In their match against Carlisle on November 14, 2020 the highest number of passes was bought for an away game, with 420 Cheltenham fans making up the total of 1,490 passes bought by both home and away supporters.
Check out Cheltenham Town’s game passes here.
Each pass costs only £10 and for every home game the club receives £8.30 from each pass purchased. In addition to the home team passes, the club also receives the first 500 of the away team’s virtual tickets, unless the away supporters buy more than 500 in which case the home team only takes the money from each pass over the 500 mark.
The iFollow service has been instrumental for lower league clubs to bring in income whilst their fans can’t attend matches in person and with its success already clear, it will only go from strength to strength.
Cheltenham Town’s numbers are still growing too and with every passing game more fans are looking to watch them live on iFollow, and with their progression into the third round of the FA Cup it’s almost a certainty that their game pass purchases will increase even more.
There is no denying the success of the iFollow service, especially during the pandemic, and with studies showing how much watching live sport affects your mental health for the better, it will have helped local sports fans in more ways than one.
For more information on iFollow’s services watch the video below:
