Inside Leinster Rugby’s New Stadium Plan

Leinster’s return to the RDS campus and the redeveloped Laya Arena is the centrepiece of this week's Sport for Business podcast.

We are chatting with Matthew Dowling, Chief Commercial officer for Leinster and over half an hour we get into the details that decide whether a stadium move is remembered fondly or forever. Think capacity planning, yield management, seat maps, and the hard promise that season ticket holders who came on the journey through Aviva Stadium and the odd Croke Park blockbuster get looked after on the way back. 

We also talk match day experience in terms of queues, food, toilets, places to meet friends, and how different fan personas want totally different nights out. 

From there, the lens widens to commercial partnerships and naming rights, including how Leinster protect sponsor value as the arena becomes a multi-event venue, and what comes next.

A new CRM approach, stronger digital platforms, smarter targeting, streaming experiments, and a serious opportunity to help grow rugby in the United States ahead of the 2030 and 2031 World Cup cycle. 

If you care about Leinster Rugby, stadium development in Ireland, sports marketing, sponsorship, and the business of fan loyalty, you’ll get plenty from this one. Subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review, what’s the biggest risk you think clubs take when they change homes?

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Transcript

Welcome And The Big Week Ahead

Semi-final Commercial Realities

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Hello and welcome to the Sports for Business Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Hartnett, and in today's episode we are digging deep with Matthew Dowling. He is the commercial director of Leinster Rugby. There's a big game coming up this weekend with Leinster taking on Toulon in the semi-final of the European Champions Cup. But beyond that, there is the move which will be taking place over the summer into the new Leia Arena. So Matthew has been in at the helm of the commercial side of Leinster Rugby for uh for over two years now, but he is about to embark on the final stage of a project which has been over a decade in the making. The new stadium is already rising from the ground and is going to be ready for not only the Dublin horse show at the RDS in August, but then for the return of Leinster rugby to its grounds in the new season ahead. We talk about the challenges that come with that, with making sure that the season ticket holders, who were the loyalist and most faithful fans in the old RDS, were looked after on the way through the Aviva Stadium and the occasional big match in Croke Park, and now back into their new seats in the new stadium. We look at the commercial aspect of the stadium as well, how the principal partners of Leinster rugby have been catered for and looked after, and plenty more besides as well. It's a really good insight into the world of uh professional sport and the commercial side that backs that up here in Ireland. So without further ado, let's head to Belfield and get into the conversation with Matthew Dowling. So we're only a couple of days out now from Leinster rugby against Tulop, semi-final of the of the European Champions Cup, and always going to be a big occasion for Leinster. What's the the vibe like now as we see it only a few days out from it?

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yeah, it's it's always um an exciting time of the year. Um I think as we get closer to Europe and knockout, the place definitely feels a little bit different. Um on the field, the team are are purely focused um to go after the the best possible result. From a commercial perspective, um a few things change. So we're actually in the middle of our season, the closing out of our season ticket sales, so the commercial team are very focused on that. But with the European semi-final, that's actually uh priced and sold by the EPCR. So actually, we ironically, we kind of when we should feel like it's really, really busy, we take a little bit of a step back. We give them some guidance and advice on pricing commercials, how you would set a stadium in the in the right capacity. And we've obviously had a lot of experience over the last couple of years in knowing which parts to sell, TV angles, what not to sell, trying to make sure you can do the very best with with the eventual crowd that that will turn up to the game. So we're kind of a little bit in the background on the commercials, but obviously uh very excited to be headed into uh another home semi-final. Great.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

And that's always done on a on a match-by-match basis with the with the European games, is it? When it comes to the knockout stages.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

When it comes to the knockout stages of Europe, uh round 16 is very much owned and run by ourselves. Um the quarterfinal is run by ourselves, and in both of those instances, there's a revenue share agreement. So there's a participation agreement for with the EPCR, whereby the traveling team who come to play us will also take a percentage of the gate after costs. It's when you hit the semi-final that the EPCR will contract the running of it. The the difference to this was Crowt Park a couple of years ago, um, where we actually were involved because we had the contract with Crote Park, so we were much more involved in that. So the EPCR will will run this and we will be almost uh a kind of a customer, we will buy tickets to ourselves, we will support our sponsors, we will uh support people from staff in the office going there to watch it, whereas every other week we're kind of walking in, taking the keys, opening it up and and and and running the game. So there's a few nuances there. Yeah, and the final obviously is a destination final, so Bilbao is completely run by the competition.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

Yeah. And it should be sunny in Bilbao. Although we're sitting here at the moment in uh out in in UCD's uh base for Linister rugby and the cherry blossoms are out and the sun is shining. So maybe that's what it's like all of the time. Bilbao will be certain for that, though, if we get there.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

It's a big if. I mean we won't we won't be looking past uh next Saturday with too long. Um so it's a very big if um if we get there.

Returning To The Leia Arena

SPEAKER_01 5:12

That idea of the nuances, as you say, between taking on a stadium, opening the gates, turning on the lights, all of the rest of it, it's been your life for the last two years, and it will be again for the Aviva Stadium at the at the weekend. But now there is anybody driving around Ballsbridge will have noticed very clearly on the horizon over the last couple of weeks that the the new RDS, the Leia Arena, is going to be your home again. How exciting is that?

SPEAKER_00 5:46

It's very exciting uh to get back in. I think um we've taken a lot of burnings from we went out of the RDS, but and when we sat back and looked at it, like it's actually a 20-year journey. So the first match, I believe, was played in 0506, a win against Cardiff. Uh soon after that, at least was signed for 20 years. And actually, you know, 10, 15 plus years ago, there was design tenders, there was bringing naming rights partners in, there was uh funding, and it was around 23, 24, so a couple of years ago, that it really kind of the rubber really started to hit the road in terms of understanding what that move looks like. So we can't wait to be back in there, but before we went back in there, we had to ask some questions around capacities, yield management. So, first of all, is this an opportunity to take the game on the road to lots of different counties? And we'd love to do that, and we try to do that, but then you end up in a position where you've got um a season ticket holder base which is in different areas, and and moving it around and trying to price it up in the right way becomes quite a challenge. It's also very challenging to make sure you can get all of the stadia in the right places at the right time. So there's been a huge amount of learnings in relation to all of that. We've we've actually learned an awful lot about capacity management and yield management because there are certain games, undoubtedly, that you take to a bigger stadium and you know you're gonna fill them. There's opposition, there's rivalry, there's the timing, there is the incidentals of what else might be going on. So it's not an AL L weekend and it's a nice free run at it, and you've got a nice long sales window, you can do really well. But there's also going to be matches when all of those things aren't in your favour and you need a you need to work with a a smaller crowd. So we have learned how to sell it in what or sell the likes of the Viva Crook Park in what position, how do you optimize camera angles, how do you optimize pricing for the supporters to get there? I think we've hopefully done a reasonably good job of getting kids to games for from 12 euro. Um, so we've learned an awful lot about that. Um, we originally thought it might be one season, became two seasons. So it's been a long time, um, and we can't wait to get back in to have the opportunity to be back in the home of Leinster will be in the Layer Arena, as it now will be called, um, with around 21,000 uh supporters there and retain the ability to burst up to bigger stadiums when we need to for those those bigger games. And I think when we come back and have the option to do that, um, it will be really great, and we look forward to that.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

And over these last couple of years, you have had that opportunity to learn about using D Viva Stadium and using Croke Park. So now you've got a double burst capacity, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Yeah, we do. We obviously we're we're guided by availability uh and and by by opposition, and and I guess we've also been really lucky to have partners in uh in the viva stadium uh through the FAI, the RFU, um, and also um the Viva Stadium board themselves who who've really been supportive of us of us to be there. So uh yeah, so we will be very soon around now, we're we're setting budgets for next year. Uh we've got preliminary provisional idea of what our fixtures will be. So we're currently sitting down, we're looking at every fixture, um, and we're trying to understand which games should go where, but the the vast bulk of the games obviously were back in the RDS or sorry, the Leia Arena, which is where we will play. Um, and there may be one or two games that will draw a bigger crowd and we need to take elsewhere, and that's uh it's a good place to be.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Yeah. Wearing my media hat, I had the pleasure of being there for an event, which was introducing the new stadium, the new setup where we uh we sat down in the dressing rooms, we had a quick look around in terms of what it was going to be like. It's like any build project, though, the the frills and the and the nice bits, they always come late in the day. So, how how quickly has that progressed in say the last two months towards the opening date of it, which is going to be in advance of the the new season?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Yeah, there's obviously for for us, we've I've kind of been in it here since I started. We're a couple of years of work streams and different like outside of the physical development and build of it, which is which is the RDS, we're the anchor tenants, so we're in work streams with with different partners on it. So a huge amount has happened uh lately. So when you go from kind of scoping out kind of the health and safety elements, those aspects, the bigger ticket items, like where the changing rooms will be, what the stand will be, getting the seat map, being able to get that seat map in time to sell to what would be about 15,000 or is it about 15,000 season ticketholders. So all of that work is massively time consuming. And the biggest factor for the biggest voice we had in our head when we were looking at this was was our season ticket holders to make sure that they get the best return. Um, so I guess in the last couple of months, you as you just have to drive by, you'll see that the new structure um kind of coming up out of the sky out of the the back of uh from Anglesey or Simmons Court uh uh road. So uh a lot of those uh changes have been and final touches have been put on. Um but the RDS will have a deadline of their own, which is the the Royal Dublin horse shows. So before Leinster rugby go back in and play in the new layer arena, uh the horse show will be on around August 5th, which will be a great opportunity to get a test run there um in advance of us going back in.

Reseating Season Ticket Holders

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah, it's great to have that first, actually, before anything else happens. Um you mentioned uh about the season ticket holders, and let's just have a look at at how that's been managed over the course. At least you were moving from a stadium which had a capacity of just over 18,000 into a stadium at the Aviva which had 50,000 potentially, and I know using the the lower bowl lessened that, but you were able to accommodate them all. But it won't have necessarily suited everybody. Were there issues that you had expected and issues that you hadn't expected that arose over the course of that transitionary period?

SPEAKER_00 11:51

There were there were there were plenty. I think if we were to look back on the whole the whole journey so far, I think our exit from the RDS uh into the Aviva probably could have been, there's parts of it that could have been better in relation to the speed at which we moved and probably the amount of time we could have given existing uh season ticket holders uh to get back in. But one of the things we did say at the time was that anybody who comes on the journey, having been there in 23, 24 prior, and comes on the journey to Aviva will be looked after when we go back in. And I think we did take some learnings around the speed at which we moved back then, but it was not that it was a good thing, but it actually really focused our minds on making sure that when we go back in, we get it right. So we have a very experienced uh uh team there um across the board. Uh, but in relation to ticketing, they nearly have some people on on first name terms. We also engaged with some consultants in two circles in the UK who've done a lot of these stadium moves for some of the bigger global stadium AUC. Um, so we followed that principle of if you were there as a season ticket holder before and you've come on the journey, you're going back in first. And we literally worked on our comms, our sales processes, everything. And I think we opened in February. Um, within a few hours of opening back up, we had managed to reseat a lot of people very close to where they were before, if not all. Naturally, with the redevelopment such as this, there may be some changes where by seats no longer exist. We had the probably the core group impacted there was on the Grandstown side um on the halfway line. Yeah, we uh we literally we went out to all of those and we we were try to we explained to them kind of the rationale and and and and what their situation was, but we've managed to reseat those. So the amount of time and process that has gone into this um uh the team must be commended on. They've done a really, really good job on it. And I think we're over of the season ticket holders that came on the journey and went back in. We are over 90% reseated. And so um, we only went on general sale yesterday, but before we went on general sale, the very first wave of people were contacted and put back in place. We then allowed them to sit, have a look at it, and offer them where possible a move. So if you've gone back in and you still aren't happy and we can facilitate it, we'll move you. Only before all of that was done did we offer it to anybody who are first timers in the Aviva for season 24, 25, then first timers, season 25, 26, and then public sale. So we've gone on public sale with an awful lot of the seats. Um, so plenty of inventory left uh for people who want to come on board. So I think going out could have been slightly better, but the learnings taken forced us and focused us to really make sure we get it right going back in. I hope that we've pleased as many people as we possibly can and that they'll be happy when we get back in.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Yeah. And the stadium experience will be better. So your sight lines, everything be a little bit higher than it than it used to be. But that doesn't necessarily mean that people like that, because people can sometimes be averse to change.

Understanding Fans Through Personas

SPEAKER_00 15:01

People can be, but we we we want to factor those in as well. So we we carry out uh uh regular research um with our supporters and actually with people who aren't our supporters to understand kind of what they what they what they like and what their preferences are. So one of the things we've done is we have gone out and uh our the brand and marketing team and have have gone away and looked at uh uh building different personas. So who are the different personas of people that will turn up on match day? There's about eight of them. You've got the people you may have alluded to there, which are your traditional rugby ritual traditional fans. They want to go to the game, they don't want noise, they don't want music, they want to watch the game, see the game, get a point, be able to meet their pals or people that have gone to the match for forever. Right down to the maybe the corporate guest who might be there from a corporate perspective, or even kind of more of a social fan who maybe comes every now and again and is there for the social element and impact of it of attending a game. So we've done a huge amount of work to understand those personas. We've worked with the RDS to say, listen, this is who we expect to be coming through the gates. So at the end of the day, we're an anchor tenant. Others, other things will happen in the Layout arena, but we're saying we're there quite a lot as the anchor tenant. This is what we want you to cater for, and we're working with them on that to deliver something that that is better. But yes, it will be much improved. I mean, you've got a a brand new um Anglesey stand um with a much steeper rake where people will hopefully be close to the action. You've got changing rooms, shifting sides across to the grandstand, a whole new set of players facilities there. Uh the RDS obviously now on the grand hall, which is the church, and we'd look to do some stuff there as well. Um, so the pitch is always in brilliant condition and gets great care. So it will certainly be an improved experience. Is it a brand new 50,000 seater arena? No, it's not, but it's it's an upgrade on a facility that's the right size for us to play a lot of games in and have the option to move up to bigger stadia if and where needed.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Yeah, completely uh agree with with all of that. You mentioned that figure of 15,000 and the capacity of the of the new arena is going to be 21,000. Would you or have you have you capped the number of season tickets that you'd like to sell? Because there is always that view that you need to be catering for the next generation. So you need people to experience what the Layo arena is going to be like that haven't yet committed to to buying a season ticket for every single game. Is that the right balance? Because like that's a that's a very high proportion of seats that are already sold, which from a commercial point of view is great news. From a new fan or from a growing debate, uh can be sometimes a little bit challenging.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

100%. Uh so yeah, we we actually did cap it. So uh where the cap the cap is less so enforced now. But when we first went to the Aviva, we were like we were pretty inundated with people wanting to be season ticket holders. And at that point, we felt we will throttle it back a little bit because we had promises in place to the original group even their years, and we wanted to make sure that they weren't disenfranchised. But also, as you said, if you grow too much and you're going back into a stadium that's smaller, you want the retail, you want people to show up, you want to grow new audiences and pract from practical reasons, you need to keep a certain amount of retail space available for game day sales. So we kept it back then, um, and then last year in resales, we kind of naturally came to a similar number. This year, we would probably try not to go past that number again because we want to make sure, to your point, that we can bring uh new supporters on board. We've also been careful with our pricing. Um we Lenser, we hadn't had price increases in many years. And we've instituted a bit of an increase uh this year, but there's certain categories that aren't changing. And then there's certain, obviously, with with more premium seats that are there that weren't there before, uh, some some some tickets have up a little bit. But we're really careful not only on the pricing. Well, I believe we are not only in the pricing, but also on things like payment plans and breaking it down and kind of monthly payments and things like that, to make it more accessible uh for all fans. And obviously, with family pricing and kids' tickets, we want kids and young fans there because they're great for the atmosphere and they're the next generation, and we want them to be there and making memories with their family for to be future fans for life.

Building A Better Matchday Experience

SPEAKER_01 19:18

There's a lot of talk these days, both in Ireland and and around the world, about the game day experience, that it it has to be more than the 80 minutes of of action, which to some will sound like complete bowl of dash, but for many it is a hugely important part of going to the game, of bringing the kids, of knowing that you're going to be able to get access to the the right kind of food, the right kind of queue times for everything else, and the right kind of entertainment around it. How much of a difference are we going to see when we go back to the layer arena as opposed to when we were going to the RDS?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

I I really hope a I really hope a significant difference. As I say, um the RDS on the ground were anchor tenants, they will run a lot of the services on the day, but they're really they have a new CEO there as well in Paul Kelly, and obviously the outgoing CEO Leam and was great as well. But they have a they have an interest in making this work and and and they talk about making a kind of a day where there's a longer dwell time, people get in early. It's a 43-acre campus in the RDS, and the layer arena within it is still a big space. So they're really keen uh to to make it a better space. Um there will be obvious things that we will look to uh improve across the board. So uh the league, URC anyway, is rated and ranked and scored on facilities, you know, bathroom facilities, food facilities, all that sort of stuff. So there's actually quantifiable metrics on what is good and what needs to be better. So we will be making sure that we want to see the new uh layer arena kind of shoot up the ranks um based on the old RDS, not say the old ODS was in a terrible spot, but we want to see that it's getting recognized for the for the new facility it is. Um we will work with them on hopefully more concessions, more places to get your food and drink, um, more places to meet up with friends and and and get back to the way it was, you know, for the nostalgic people who are coming there for 20 years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Leia have been long-term members of water business, and we've we we've worked with them along the way. This has been on their radar as well as on Lenster Rugby's radar for uh for the best part of a decade. We'll say that. In fact, it might be slightly longer than a decade, but regardless, how how has that relationship in terms of the the differences that need to come about a relationship with a a sponsor who's not on the shirt front? So Bank of Ireland remain on the shirt front and your primary commercial partner, but this brings Leia into a whole different space with Leinster as opposed to with their other sponsorships as well. How how positive has that been?

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yeah, I mean, like all our sponsors, Leia are very valuable to us. Um, and as you say, they've been on the journey a long, long time. In fact, it's it's it's kind of a funny one in that they've been on the journey in a lot of these naming rights deals that the stadium is built, and then someone jumps in on the naming rights at the end. So it's slightly different. So they've so actually, because we've got such close relationships with them and and and value them, we've been able to work with them together on kind of what we want to see there and what we can deliver. We obviously have in the in the region at 20 plus partners and you know, about five or so premium partners and sponsors. And we and ourselves and Leia have worked really closely to make sure that the deals that those sponsors signed in relation to their contractual obligations and the coverage they will get uh doesn't change because we're going back into the Leia Arena. And it's been a really uh a good collaboration in relation to making sure that we everybody gets the coverage they got. But the Leia Arena and sorry, Leia are in a really nice position in that they have uh opportunities beyond uh what they do with us on match day. There is there's a uh an arena there that they can put music into, they can put other events into. So they'll benefit beyond the match day. But like all of our sponsors, we'll be pushing for them to get as much coverage as possible with within what we would do in the Aviva or Crog Park or anyone else. But I guess, yes, having them as partners and having an established relationship uh has helped us to uh to work together uh with the RDS to deliver the arena.

Data, Digital And US Growth

SPEAKER_01 23:31

And I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from how Aviva have turned what was dismissed as being overly commercial, and we'll never call it anything other than Lansdown Road, to moving to a point where it was called the Aviva Stadium to where we are now, where it's just the Aviva. That's your classic marketeer's dream, really. And I guess being in the insurance business, albeit in slightly different verticals, then there will be lessons that Leia will have been able to pick up from the last couple of years and and more in terms of the arena there as well. The the the the stadium has been obviously uh uh hugely all-consuming in terms of of where you've been with the you know, the marketing to the fans, the marketing to partners, the marketing of of of the brand, the team, the the the essence of Leinster rugby. But now that we are coming to the end of that virtual and real tunnel as such, what what's going to be next? Where are where are Leinster looking to keep on moving forward and to keep on advancing in terms of how you present one of the best teams in the world to become one of the best commercial engines in Irish sport?

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Yeah, it's a good question. Like obviously the first thing is we we we want to get back in there and make sure it works for everyone as a success, and the games are on well and and and and and and and all going well, the team continue in with their success on the field and make it a great product to work with. Um there's lots of lots of opportunities. So for us, the last couple of years, we kind of while we've been involved with the the redevelopment of the RDS, there's been other building blocks going on as well. So not that it's cliche, but everyone talks about you know optimal fan engagement and fans and experience and stuff like that. But oftentimes the foundational building blocks that need to be there aren't always there. So what we've spent probably the last two years, while the the arena was being built was also building new CRN capabilities and platforms, and making sure that we're addressing um the need to really understand who your supporters are and who other stakeholders are. So we've delivered a whole new CRM uh with support of another uh partner and sponsor, uh Bearing Point. And some of the results we've seen so far on trial runs are you know absolutely fantastic on campaigns where we've been able to sell those last few couple of thousand tickets that maybe weren't shifting because we've got a greater insight and understanding, but it's also about using that platform to drive the brand and engagement. So a lot of work done on building that. We've got some new website and app uh that needs an overhaul that has to be done pretty soon, and there's work ongoing on that. So kind of technological uh building blocks. We've moved into a bit more of streaming with our we stream one of our partners, so we showed all of the um disclosed matches this year. So we every single um and game in the boys' um uh school senior cup was was shown and great engagement from a lot of people around the world. Um, but one of the biggest pieces, I guess, for us is is the US and the opportunity in in the United States. So um we with the World Cup coming in 2030 uh 31, um the men's and women's world cup then following after. Rugby is at a really uh crucial point of of growth over there. So um that was validated. We took a trip there in October, November, um, met a lot of uh a lot of people there uh in the sports field, um in business, and just to kind of do a recce and understand kind of where the opportunities were beyond the things we've been doing already. Um and it just validated everything we thought in relation to to what we can do. That would be building off what we've done already, which is to be there for the past few years with staff on the ground over in the Northeast in Syracuse, where we've been putting, we've been running uh Pee-Wee camps, uh summer camps, schools of excellence clinics, and put hundreds of kids through some of those camps, uh, about 135 coaches trained. Um so the opportunity there is massive, and there's a lot of interest in kind of our models and and and uh what we do here in Ireland domestically. Um so there's there's a lot to be done there and a lot of uh exciting times.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

And I guess I remember when that was launched in the um, you know, in the f in the first place, and it did feel very much like a striped chambition, but now that you've seen it and those numbers of of kids coming through and that, there is the potential there as well in fine that might have actually come through in that north New York State.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Yeah, it could. I I guess that the emphasis for us is is is less on that side and more on the side of helping the US to grow the game there. So, like it would be a nice byproduct if some players are developed and wanted to come over here and and and play. But the ultimate goal is to help grow the game in the US using the models that have helped us to grow the game, uh, game uh here in Ireland. And I think part of the the benefit of that is kind of just again growing the brand globally um as someone who can help and help grow it. Um as I say, if some players come through, great, but the the main aim is to be the to be the ones that finally help to nudge it in the right direction and and and help to build on the work done by World Rugby and US rugby and others um to to grow the game. And there's some brilliant people with lots of experience over there. Um, and where our summer camps start again uh in in in a couple of months' time and um we'll be back over in the summer, kind of hopefully engaging more kids and getting US kids to kind of start to appreciate and fall in love with uh rugby.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Yeah, and Bank of Ireland have stuck with you all the way through this long-term primary commercial partner, um, that relationship, I'm sure they're excited about getting back in and having that that base for Leinster rugby again.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Bank of Ireland, uh like all our partners have been have been fantastic. And um obviously there you see them on the shirt week in, week out, but obviously, like all of our partners, they they touched on what many other areas. Like if you look at the the Bank of Ireland, Leinster School Senior Cup final, they were all over that, and that's like two, two, two full games separated by three points, two replays, just a brilliant product. And they've supported that, they've supported a whole heap of other um domestic competitions like the lacks of Bering Point have. So it'll be great to be to be working with them again back in the in the layer.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yeah, yeah. Uh just to to finish off now, um we spoke before um on the sports business podcast uh when you were relatively fresh into the into the role. Now you're coming up on two and a half, approaching nearly three years in the position. How has how has your view of the potential of this role grown and changed over the course of that time?

SPEAKER_00 30:16

I think that I think the understanding of the potential was always was always there. But I guess I think we alluded to it earlier, trying to meet that potential while also try taking out so many season ticket holders, supporters out of one stadium, into another stadium, and back to what will be a great new home has been an absolutely massive lift that has needed the focus. So there's been a bit of kind of reflection to make sure we get that right. If we don't get that right, you know, we we we we've got bigger problems. So I guess my understanding or the ambitions that I and that the whole team share haven't changed. We've probably, as I said earlier, gone back to building the foundations and the building blocks that will help us to um to deliver what we want to deliver. So we just kind of open back up that ambition. We want to improve our fan engagement, we can do that, we want to grow in new markets. We spoke about the US and others. So I think I think my understanding of what of what the potential was hasn't necessarily changed, but it's just now exciting to be in a place where I believe we can get back to the RDS or layer in it, and then we can start to activate on some of those other ambitions.

Closing And Sport For Business Events

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Yeah, and having 90% of your core season ticket base already knowing where their seats are before the seats have actually been fully upholstered and put into the stadium is a pretty good place to be. Um, we'll look the very best of luck with next weekend, the very best of luck with the rest of this season, and especially the very best of luck with the seasons to come, because it does promise to be one of the most exciting adventures in both the commercial and the sporting world of uh of Irish sport as well, moving into the Layer Arena. Uh Matthew Gowling, commercial director of Leinster Rugby, thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Rob. Thanks to Matthew, and thank you for listening to the Sport for Business Podcast. You can catch up with everything that we do in and around the commercial world of Irish sport at sportforbusiness.com. That includes our daily news bulletins with fresh content appearing every day, and with some of the events that we have coming up, including a special event on AI and data in Irish sport, which we're doing in partnership with our friends at Technological University Dublin out of the Grange Gorman campus. That's coming up on Wednesday, June the 10th. And we've also got a very exciting new event for this year on Irish sport and creativity, which is going to explore a whole range of different areas, including content, design, culture, and so many more. So thank you for taking the time out to listen to what we had to say with Matthew Darling from Lancet Rugby. Have a great rest of your day, rest of your week, and take care.