Sign in

Blog · Coverage and territory · Sports

Inventory utilisation per fixture: what was sold, what was delivered, what was left

How a sports organisation's commercial team measures utilisation of its sponsorship and hospitality inventory per fixture from the sales and delivery records: sold share, delivered share, the unsold inventory valued at rate card, and the fixture-by-fixture pattern that shows which assets sell out early and which never move.

The short answerPer fixture, per inventory item, three figures: sold share against capacity, delivered share against sold, and unsold inventory at rate card. From the sales ledger, the inventory master and the delivery log. Across a season, the pattern per item shows which assets sell out weeks early and are under-priced, which never sell and are mis-specified, and which were sold and not delivered, which is a partner problem before it becomes a renewal problem.

A commercial director knows the season's sponsorship revenue and the hospitality yield. What that does not say is that the east-stand LED sold out for every fixture by August while the concourse boards were empty all season, or that a partner's contracted board was missing for three fixtures nobody logged. This guide sets out utilisation per fixture per item and the pattern across the season.

The measures

Per fixture, per item:

Sold share = units sold ÷ capacity Delivered share = units delivered ÷ units sold Unsold at rate card = (capacity − sold) × rate card

Per item, across the season: the fixtures at which it sold out, and how far ahead of the fixture.

The rows you need

  • Inventory master: item, capacity per fixture, rate card.
  • Sales ledger: partner, item, fixture, units, value, date sold.
  • Delivery log: item, fixture, units delivered.
  • Fixture list: fixture, date, category.

Partner identifiers only.

The assertions

Σ units sold per item per fixture ≤ capacity Σ units delivered ≤ units sold

Oversold fails the first and is a real problem before the fixture. Delivered exceeding sold fails the second and is usually a logging error.

A worked season view

One item, twelve home fixtures.

Item Capacity Avg sold share Fixtures sold out Avg days ahead Unsold at rate card
East LED, 5 min 30 100% 12 48 $0
Concourse boards 24 21% 0 $410,000
Suite seats 180 78% 3 6 $220,000
Programme pages 8 88% 7 14 $19,000

The LED sold out seven weeks ahead at every fixture, which is a price signal. The concourse boards never moved, which is a specification or a sales question. The suites sell out only for the three big fixtures, which is a packaging question for the other nine.

Delivery

Partner Item Fixtures sold Fixtures delivered Make-good owed
2207 West board 12 9 3 fixtures

A partner whose board was missing at three fixtures finds out at renewal, if the organisation has not found out first. The delivery log is where it shows, and the make-good is the conversation before the renewal one.

Where it goes wrong

Delivery not logged. Sold is assumed delivered. It is not, and the partner knows.

Season totals only. The fixture-by-fixture pattern is the finding. Totals hide it.

Unsold read as lost revenue. Rate card is a ceiling. Say so.

Capacity not per fixture. A cup fixture with a different configuration has a different capacity. Carry it on the fixture.

Every fixture, every item

Mapped once, the sales ledger, the inventory master and the delivery log produce utilisation per fixture and the season pattern per item, with the delivery exceptions listed. Covirage builds this from the exports as they are. The sports page describes the setup, and the asset fit guide covers the partner-level view this sits beside.

Questions people ask

What is an inventory item?

Anything with a capacity per fixture: hospitality boxes, suite seats, LED minutes, pitch-side boards, digital placements, matchday programme pages. Each has a capacity and a rate card value per fixture in the inventory master.

Sold versus delivered: what is the difference?

Sold is contracted to a partner. Delivered is confirmed as fulfilled on the day: the box was staffed, the board was up, the LED ran. A sold item not delivered is a make-good owed to the partner, and the delivery log is where it shows.

How is unsold inventory valued?

At the rate card value on the inventory master, per item per fixture, stated as rate card and not as expected revenue. It is a ceiling, and the report says so.