Sports clubs across the UK are increasingly moving away from cash on the gate towards online ticketing. Whether you run a non-league football club, a local rugby side, or a community cricket team, selling tickets online gives you better planning data, more reliable revenue, and a smoother matchday experience.
What sports clubs need from ticketing
Sports clubs have unique requirements compared to one-off event organisers:
- Recurring fixtures -- A football club might have 20+ home matches per season. The platform needs to make it easy to create and manage recurring events without starting from scratch each time.
- Season tickets -- Selling season passes online with individual QR codes for each fixture is essential for tracking attendance and planning capacity.
- Multiple ticket types -- Adult, concession, child, family, and member pricing are all standard. Many clubs also offer loyalty or early-bird pricing.
- Low ticket prices -- Grassroots sport tickets often cost between £5 and £15. At these prices, even small percentage fees eat significantly into revenue.
- Volunteer-friendly -- Most grassroots clubs are run by volunteers. The platform needs to be simple enough that a committee member with no technical experience can manage it.
Platform options for sports clubs
Tickts
Tickts was built with grassroots sport in mind. It charges zero booking fees, which is particularly important for clubs selling low-priced tickets. A non-league football club selling 200 tickets per match at £8 would lose nothing to platform fees over a season. The platform supports season tickets with individual QR codes per fixture, multiple ticket types, and scanning via a free mobile app. Payments go directly to the club's Stripe account.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite works for sports clubs but its fee structure (6.95% + 59p per ticket) is painful at low price points. On a £7 adult ticket, Eventbrite's fee is £1.08 -- that's over 15% of the ticket price. Over a season of 20 home matches with 150 tickets per match, that's £3,240 in fees. The platform does offer good event management tools and strong brand recognition, but the economics rarely make sense for grassroots sport.
Ticket Tailor
Ticket Tailor's subscription model (from around £19/month) can work for clubs that run events year-round. Over a 10-month season, you'd pay roughly £190 total regardless of how many tickets you sell. That's predictable and potentially good value for busy clubs. The platform is straightforward and supports seating plans, which is useful for clubs with seated stands.
Pitchero
Pitchero is a sports club management platform rather than a pure ticketing solution. It offers websites, team management, and member registration alongside basic ticketing. If your club needs an all-in-one solution, Pitchero might appeal. However, its ticketing features are more limited than dedicated platforms, and pricing varies by package.
Club Insure / GiveAGate
Some specialist providers have emerged specifically for grassroots football. These tend to offer matchday payment solutions rather than full ticketing platforms. They can be useful for clubs transitioning from cash-only, but may lack features like season tickets and advanced reporting.
Season ticket considerations
Season tickets deserve special attention because they're typically a sports club's largest single revenue source. When evaluating platforms, check:
- Individual fixture scanning -- Can you scan a season ticket holder at each individual match? This matters for attendance tracking and capacity planning.
- Partial season options -- Can you sell half-season or mini-package tickets? Flexibility attracts fans who can't commit to every match.
- Renewal management -- Does the platform make it easy to contact previous season ticket holders when renewal time comes?
- Pricing flexibility -- Can you offer early-bird discounts, loyalty pricing for returning holders, or payment plans for higher-priced packages?
The real cost to your club
Let's run the numbers for a typical non-league football club: 20 home matches, 200 tickets per match at an average of £8, plus 80 season tickets at £100 each.
Total annual ticket revenue: £40,000 (matchday) + £8,000 (season) = £48,000.
- Tickts -- £0 platform fees. Stripe processing only (approx £720).
- Eventbrite -- approximately £4,550 in platform fees plus payment processing.
- Ticket Tailor -- approximately £190 subscription plus payment processing.
For a grassroots club, £4,550 could be the difference between affording new kit for the junior teams or not. It's worth taking the time to compare options and choose the platform that keeps the most money where it belongs -- in your club.
Curious how tickts compares? See our side-by-side comparison of tickts vs Eventbrite: fees, payouts, and features for UK organisers.
