NAC Breda has been using the CM.com platform for years to interact with supporters and business relations. Co-creation allowed NAC Breda and CM.com to optimize the platform for the sports market. We spoke to Eric Matijsen, commercial manager of NAC Breda, about the various applications to improve the fan relationship: "To better serve our fans and business supporters and to reward loyalty, you need to know who they are. That way you can approach everyone more effectively."
In a mobile-first world, 1-on-1 interactions via mobile are key to building lasting fan relationships. NAC Breda understands this better than anyone and has taken innovative steps over the years to enhance supporter engagement. For example, at the end of the 2016-2017 season, season ticket holders received a personal voice message from club legend Manu Garcia. He shared exclusive news about his contract extension, followed by an SMS with a link to instantly renew their season ticket. This personal touch rewarded the club’s most loyal supporters and strengthened their bond with the team.
In addition to Voice and SMS, NAC Breda also uses the CM.com platform for automated direct debits for season tickets. Supporters can pay for their tickets in installments, and if a payment is missed, they receive an SMS with an iDEAL payment link. Thanks to AutoCollect, this process is fully automated, saving both time and reducing staffing costs.
Recently, NAC Breda set a new standard in the sports world with the launch of their fully autonomous Ticketing Agent, powered by HALO. This AI assistant makes it easier than ever for fans to renew their season tickets through a natural WhatsApp conversation. The results? An impressive 90% conversion rate within 1 week, personalized 1-on-1 interactions with fans, and 24/7 availability.
With smart integrations into Seated Ticketing and the Marketing Cloud, the NAC assistant can operate fully autonomously to:
✅ Verify the fan's phone number
✅ Retrieve the fan profile
✅ Process seat relocation preferences
✅ Display the season ticket and enable instant payment
✅ Send a confirmation email with the updated season ticket
Thanks to HALO, NAC Breda delivers seamless and personalized service, streamlines internal processes, and strengthens its connection with supporters in an innovative way. This combination of technology and personal attention keeps NAC Breda at the forefront of the sports world, setting a new standard for fan engagement.
CM.com is a sponsor of NAC Breda and has even been the main sponsor for an extended period. The collaboration between CM.com and NAC Breda, with the help of the latest technologies, makes the experience at NAC Breda easier and more modern.
All entrance possibilities and online sales are developed and provided in cooperation with CM.com. All these forms of ticketing have been developed in co-creation between NAC Breda and CM.com. This means that various products can instantly be implemented by other football clubs or sports organizations that want to offer the same opportunities.
The CM.com technology is built in such a way that NAC Breda's supporters experience as few obstacles as possible. In one or two clicks the supporter must be able to buy a season ticket, match ticket or the right size shirt. "This reduces dropout in the buying process and increases revenue and customer loyalty with our fans and supporters."
An example of convenience is the Guest Manager. With the CM.com Guest Manager, the sponsors of NAC Breda invite their relationships digitally, personally and possibly last-minute to their own skybox. The Guest Manager can be managed by the sponsor himself. "There are no more hard copy tickets that are being handed out and picked up, but there is a digital ticket with a personal QR code." This ticket is sent to the attendee in time by e-mail. As an extra service, he receives an SMS a day before the match with the ticket, a preview and the route directions. "Only bringing your phone with you is therefore sufficient. This hospitality service is highly appreciated by our business relations. "
With the collected data from tickets and merchandise sales, NAC Breda gets to know its fans and supporters better. Eric: "In the past we had broad marketing campaigns, but that does not necessarily mean that you reach the right target group. By segmenting and choosing the target group beforehand, you can set up much more targeted marketing campaigns."
The action, the message and the marketing channel is aligned with the chosen group by NAC Breda. With the use of data NAC Breda shows that it knows the supporters and thinks of them. "The relationship you create by doing this is like gold for a club."
NAC Breda - also called 'Pearl of the South' - is a Dutch premier league club with a strong supporters group.
NAC Breda is the largest business club in West-Brabant and Zeeland, so that in addition to football, the business platform also plays an important role for the club. In addition, the club is committed to various social activities, such as Playing for Success Breda and Niemand Buitenspel.
19,000 visitors per match
15,500 season card holders
the largest business club in the region
Never empty seats thanks to secondary ticketing
The Rat Verlegh stadium in Breda is sold out every match. Eric: "Of course it is possible that a season ticket holder can not attend the match once. Via secondary ticketing, technology of CM.com, the season ticket holder can sell his ticket for that match. "A part of the sold ticket goes to the season ticket holder and another part to NAC Breda. The buyer receives a personalized ticket and can attend the match for the usual price. A win-win situation for all parties involved.
Through co-creation between NAC Breda and CM.com "Ticketing can easily be managed alongside the other activities". This makes the CM.com platform fully optimized for the football and sports market. The activation of the main sponsorship of CM.com for NAC Breda can, according to Eric, "really not be better".
In the future, more is possibly to come from this collaboration. Think of mobile payment in the food and beverages industry, or mobile in-seat ordering, allowing VIPS to order drink and snacks of their choice from their seats. Eventually everything comes together in 1 app in the CM.com platform; ticketing, catering and merchandise. The experimental ground created for NAC Breda is used to continue building at CM.com.
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