Association of Conservative Clubs

Lord Philip Smith CBE, Chairman of the Committee of Registered Associations (CORCA*), believes Sky offers the perfect packages to help keep club guests happy and attract more members.

Lord Smith said: “Sky pays for itself. It has a huge impact on the clubs that use it and has helped draw in a lot more members. Every club should have Sky because it not only increases membership but also patronage at our clubs. Certainly, clubs that have Sky have more guests than those that don’t.”

Sky’s range of channels is a major plus point according to Philip as it ensures there’s something for all members.

“Sky Sports is extremely popular but some of our members may want something else. Our clubs have all sorts of different members and Sky’s range of channels ensures there’s something for everyone, with some preferring sport and others preferring entertainment channels.”

* CORCA comprises of 12 Club Associations, which collectively have in the region of 5,000 Clubs.

Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club

Sky Sports is helping to keep the bar staff busy down at Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bringing in customers earlier and ensuring they stick around longer is exactly what Sky Sports enables the club to do. With lunchtime Premier League kick-offs, evening games from the Sky Bet EFL and afternoon rugby live on Sky Sports this month, the club is expecting some busy weekends across the next few months.

“If there’s a big live event on at lunchtime people will come in early. But it’s not just about rugby. If there’s an important lunchtime game in the Premier League and enough people want to watch it we’ll stick it on one of the screens. Sky Sports News is pretty much on around the clock and qualifying for F1 seems to be popular on matchdays as well. Obviously rugby gets priority but we’ll show anything and everything people want to watch.

“But it’s even more popular after an Ealing game has finished, especially if they’ve won. Supporters will come into the clubhouse to celebrate with the players and there’s always something to watch on Sky Sports so it makes it a full day out.”

Oli doesn't expect it to get any quieter once the season has finished either. At the end of April the club will host the final of the Tyrrell’s Premier 15s, the top level of women’s domestic rugby, with the game also live on Sky Sports for the first time. Then in June, England, Ireland and France take on the southern hemisphere’s finest.

“We’ll certainly be looking to do some big things for the women’s Premiership final. Our season finishes on 28 April down in Cornwall then we’ll be back the next day for the final of that competition. We’ll be looking to make it a big occasion for those that come down to watch it because we want to see games of this type of magnitude at the club on a more consistent basis.

“In terms of the summer tours, even though we won’t have any games ourselves we will most definitely be open for those games because people will want to come to see them and the club is a popular place to watch them.

“We will definitely enjoy a good atmosphere on those days. We’ve got a tight-knit supporters group who always come down to watch internationals so there’s no doubt those games will be on here.”