I have just seen a breaking story on the internet about Norwich City Football Club calling the police after a 17 year old fan leaked it's new strip 12 hours before the official launch.
The student obtained the pictures from the club's official website when it was being updated and then posted the images on Twitter and internet forums. He didn't hack into the site, the pictures were visible on pages being updated.
Norwich City apparently telephoned him at 04.30am the next morning to ask how he had got the pictures and then telephoned the police.
I don't really see what he's done wrong as the pictures were in the public domain when he obtained them - but it's something else in the coverage that caught my eye.
The club's Chief Executive David McNally was interviewed and explained why the club involved the police:
"We are the guardians of the football club whilst we're here and so we will protect our property. Our property in the digital age involves our intellectual property, so we won't allow anybody to come in and take it from us."
I suspect it was done more out of excitement than maliciousness Mr McNally so the action seems a bit disproportionate but actually that's not the point either. He goes on to defend the club's decision to launch a new shirt after using the current one for just one season:
"Let me tell you, big football clubs change their kit every year. If we are a big football club then we have to act like a big football club, "he said. "If we don't, we are at a competitive disadvantage to other big football clubs and the vast majority of supporters perfer the kit to change every year."
That's a poor response to a reasonable question in my view Mr McNally. It's also symptomatic of the way that those 'big' clubs view their supporters. A more honest answer might have been: "How dare you suggest it's not the right thing to do! All big football clubs change their kit every year, and we're on the band-waggon. It's a great way to squeeze more money out of the punters and if other club's can get away with it then so can we. We'd be stupid to miss out on the opportunity to fleece them again before the new season starts."
I'm amazed at how most football clubs treat their customers (with the exception of a few isolated cases of clubs where the people running the club are a little more enlightened). They are taken for granted and seen as opportunities to generate income first and supporters with whom it's worth developing a long term relationship with second. Developing the long term relationship means taking actions that are in their interests even if it has a short term impact on income, knowing though that the long term benefits are far greater. But short term thinking rules and it's already impacting the relationship many supporters have with 'their' club. The problem is that if fans believe they're being taken advantage of their relationship with the club breaks down, it ceases to be 'their' club and the stop going to matches. In my opinion that's the key thing that's driving lower attendances for many clubs this season. Lower disposable income might get the blame, but the underlying cause is that they don't feel the same connection with the club. If they did, most would find the money from somewhere. I forecast crowds will continue to fall and more clubs will experience financial difficulty. More will go into administration and some may be liquidated.
So why don't those in positions of power at the clubs see past the short term? It may be because most people involved in football club management are at clubs for just a few years and then move on somewhere else. Unlike supporters, who see their relationship as a long term commitment, management thinks short term, expecting they won't be for longer than a few years. It's not a good business model - and it's one that needs to change if relationships with supporters is to become core to their business strategy.....
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