Playfinder, the leading online marketplace that makes it easy to find and book sports facilities, has its say on the pandemic’s impacts and looks to the future of grassroots sports
Across London and the South East there are 19,000 amateur sports venues, covering over 40,000 sports facilities, that have been hit hard by the Covid pandemic having been closed for eight of the 12 months from April 2020. As the third lockdown ends and with the pandemic drawing to a close – hopefully – the industry waits to see how well these venues will emerge from the wreckage.
Sported, a network of community sports clubs, believes 25% of their clubs will not come back from the pandemic. Repetitive lockdowns have prevented businesses from gaining any real momentum, meaning cashflow has been a big problem for venue managers. The general consensus is cash will be king meaning a potential uplift in opportunity for sports players.
After the first lockdown, Playfinder was encouraged by consumers’ appetite to play with searches up 151% year-on-year and a record month of traffic in September. Venues will be itching to get customers through their doors in Spring when outdoor sport restarts.
In September 2020, Playfinder launched Bookteq, an affordable cloud-based booking software, motivated by large numbers of facilities still being underutilised due to a lack of suitable technology in the market with only 35% having adopted online bookings.
With typical occupancy rates sitting at 40-50%, there is an opportunity to maximise the yield of sports venues by matching this surge in demand with easy access to booking, and as Sport England focuses more energy on digital transformation, there is pressure from the government’s funding bodies to do so and create a healthier nation.
Playfinder is devoted to maximising the nation’s eagerness to play sport by making online booking more accessible than ever with Bookteq, with the system enabling access to over 100k monthly visitors on the Playfinder marketplace.
One venue that has benefited from the move to Playfinder is Blackheath Wanderers Sports Club, based in South East London, which saw 42% of all bookings coming from new users after the first lockdown.
Furthermore, at a time where safety is critical, Playfinder has helped venues ensure they are Covid-secure with features on Bookteq including buffer periods to avoid crossover between players, online risk assessments, contactless payments, and a track and trace system.
Finally, efficiency in payment collection has also been thrust into the spotlight as the pandemic has exposed many bad debtors. When Waltham Forest Council joined Playfinder in June 2019, their debtor list stood at £87,000 – about 50% of annual revenue – which they reduced by 79% before the pandemic using Bookteq.
As Joyce Guthrie, head of sport at Waltham Forest Council, said: “Working with Playfinder has improved our enquiry and booking management and freed up time for our staff elsewhere.”
With the vaccine roll out in full flow, venue managers can reopen with confidence and look forward to a great year ahead. And with the Euros and the Olympics set to take place this summer, players will be even more inspired to get active.
Playfinder will look to help venues get back on their feet by streamlining their operations and maximising revenues. As we edge out of lockdown, it’s imperative venues adapt to new customer behaviours, where booking online has become fundamental as a result of the pandemic.
After launching in London and the South East in 2014, Playfinder has expanded across the UK, helping over two million people find somewhere to play sport. The area is still a heartland for Playfinder, with over 380 partner venues in the region, education providers such as Gosport & Fareham Multi-Academy Trust, sports clubs like Tooting and Mitcham FC, commercial operators such as Powerleague and Goals, and councils such as Ealing and Waltham Forest.
For more information contact Playfinder CEO Jamie Foale or business development manager Tom Drew:
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