For many sporting venues, the idea of running a business club sounds simple.
Bring local businesses together, put on the event, and that leads to sponsorships, events and commercial partnerships.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy.
In reality, doing it well is far more challenging.
It requires consistent outreach, operational delivery, and the ability to attract the right businesses and people into the room.
For many venues, the question becomes whether to build that resource and find the expertise internally, or partner with a specialist.
Newbury Racecourse faced exactly that decision.
Instead of hiring internally to build and run a business club from scratch, they partnered with Network My Club.
To launch the Newbury Racecourse Business Club.
The result has been new audiences, new commercial conversations and measurable business opportunities.
Bringing New Businesses Through the Door
Newbury Racecourse already had a strong reputation locally and a substantial database of contacts for race days and events.
But like many venues, that audience naturally consisted of people already connected to the venue.
The challenge was attracting new businesses and new decision makers.
As James Bazeley, Business Development Manager at Newbury Racecourse explains:
“Network My Club has put Newbury Racecourse in front of entirely new businesses, directors and decision makers we simply wouldn’t have reached ourselves.
Through proactive introductions from the team and the activity included in the partnership model, it’s generated new business and warm leads.”
At one event, James commented that 70% of the room consisted of businesses he had not previously met or engageed with.
That matters commercially.
Growth rarely comes from repeatedly marketing to the same audience. It comes from introducing new ones.
Real Commercial Outcomes
The Business Club has already generated tangible commercial opportunities for the venue.
One of the most notable examples was a 300-person conference and events booking on a non-race day, which originated through Business Club relationships.
For venues, opportunities like this are significant. Non-matchday or non-raceday revenue is an important part of commercial strategy, and introductions that lead to large-scale bookings can have a real impact.
Beyond that headline example, the Business Club has also generated:
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Race and race card sponsorships
- Executive box bookings for meetings
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New enquiries for conferences and events
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Introductions to potential sponsors
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New and ongoing commercial conversations with local and regional businesses
As James explains; “The important thing about a Business Club is that it’s often the start of a conversastion, and it’s about nurturing these relationships over time.
It’s not about hard selling. They are about starting conversations that turn into opportunities later.”
The Reality of Running a Business Club Internally
Many venues initially assume they can run a business club themselves.
In theory, they can.
But doing it consistently requires an amount of time and resource they don’t have.
You need someone who can:
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Proactively fill the room with the right businesses
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Manage invitations, administration and logistics
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Coordinate event delivery
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Build relationships before, during and after the event
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Continue engaging businesses between events
In other words, you need a dedicated role.
As James puts it:
“The reality is, to do this ourselves it would require a full-time hire…someone with the right network, expertise and time to build and run it properly.”
And even then, it’s a risk that they truly know what they are doing, and can often take time to get off the ground.
By partnering with Network My Club, Newbury Racecourse was able to avoid additional headcount, save on that cost, deploy our model and expertise, while also gaining access to a well-established network of businesses.
Value Beyond Events at Newbury
Another benefit James highlights is the access Newbury Racecourse gains beyond the events hosted at the venue itself.
Through their partnership, the team receives complimentary Network My Club membership, allowing James and colleagues to attend events at other locations and meet businesses from outside Berkshire.
They can also connect and engage with members year-round through the private Network My Club WhatsApp community.
There are also strategic meetings each quarter to ensure each partner are commercial aligned, leading to facilitated introductions from the Network My Club team to selected members.
Crucially, the racecourse also gains ongoing marketing exposure to both members and the wider audience, helping promote upcoming race days, conferences, and seasonal events.
Rather than relying solely on their own database, the venue is able to build relationships and raise awareness across a much wider regional business network.
Getting the Right People in the Room
Another factor James highlights is the seniority of the people attending the events.
Many business networking events attract junior staff rather than decision makers.
That can make it difficult for venues to build meaningful commercial relationships.
With Network My Club, we proactively reach out to and attact:
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Business owners
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Directors
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Senior decision makers
That changes the dynamic of the conversation.
Instead of speaking to someone who may need to pass information up the chain, venues can engage directly with people who have the authority to make decisions.
A Commercial Extension of the Venue Team
Perhaps the biggest benefit for Newbury Racecourse has been the simplicity of the partnership.
Network My Club handles the work required to bring the right businesses into the room and deliver the events.
The venue team can then focus on what they want to be doing; building relationships and exploring opportunities.
As James summarises:
“Network My Club brings the audience, delivers the events, and consistently introduces valuable commercial opportunities. They’ve become a highly effective extension of our commercial team.”
For venues looking to grow their commercial reach, showcase the venue, and engage with businesses on-site without adding internal resource, the model has proven to be a powerful solution.
Learn more about the Newbury Racecourse Business Club here.
Interested in Exploring a Business Club for Your Venue?
Every sporting venue is at different stages with the idea of a business club.
Some already run networking events but struggle to grow them.
Others are considering launching a business club but are unsure whether to build it internally or partner with an external specialist.
Network My Club has worked with venues across the UK for 10+ years to help introduce new businesses, new decision makers and new commercial opportunities into their venue, while removing the operational burden of running a business club internally.
If you’re a venue exploring ways to grow your commercial reach, let’s discuss how the model could work for your club.
Included in our model is:
- Regular event schedule – including end-to-to management and delivery
- Marketing opportunities to our membership and database
- Quarterly strategic meetings to ensure events and activity is aligned
- Facilitated introductions to target market within our membership
- Strategic and proactive event invites to your target market
- Access to the Network My Club membership and events
And more…
Start the Conversation
If you’d like to explore whether a Network My Club partnership could work for your venue, you can:
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Book a short exploratory call
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Request further information about the model
👉 Get in touch here to find out more about working with us.