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Club Brugge is a professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. Founded in 1891, the club plays in the Pro League, the top tier of Belgian football.
The club runs a fan engagement program called Club Loyalty - a direct manifestation of Club Brugge's aim to be "Europe's most innovative, efficient and sustainable football company by creating value for its fans, partners, team and society".
"(...) a fan is not a customer, it's a sensitive relationship when it comes to spending budget. You need to make sure that the added value that you provide back to a fan, matches the perception of what the fan invested in his fan journey. And that's what we are trying to do by listening to their feedback."
Thomas Rypens
Innovation & Insights Director at Club Brugge
By building a custom mobile app that serves as the central digital hub or "personal wallet" for all loyalty points, cash back, and digital tickets, the club prioritizes a modern, integrated fan experience over off-the-shelf solutions.
"(...) we have an app-first strategy. So everything we do needs to end up in the app. And that's also one of the reasons why we've decided to build a custom app and did not choose an off the shelf solution. We want to control the roadmap ourselves.
Because for us, the app is really your personal wallet. It shows your loyalty points, shows what money you earned with your Club Brugge Pay card. But it also gives you digital access to your tickets, content, et cetera. So it's really the hub where fans can find everything within their own personal journey. Fans carry their phones 24/7. That makes us accessible at all times for fans."
Thomas Rypens
Innovation & Insights Director at Club Brugge
Here are the most important Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) achieved with the Club Loyalty Program:
"From those 17% more release tickets, we've seen 52% more resold tickets. That, and growing matchday attendance, increased our attendance with about 11% in our season ticket holder attendance. So yes, that's been massive for us."
Thomas Rypens
Innovation & Insights Director at Club Brugge
The Club Loyalty program is a direct manifestation of Club Brugge's aim to be "Europe's most innovative, efficient and sustainable football company".
The program supports this goal not only through its features but through the underlying methodology and organizational structure used to operate it.
Club Brugge's Club Loyalty program is tightly integrated into the official Club Brugge fan app, which acts as the central digital wallet and personal hub for the fan.
Fans buy Club ID or Young Blues membership and get automatic access to the Club Brugge Loyalty program.
They earn points based on both purchases and involvement with Club. The more active they are, the more points they collect.
The more points they save, the more gifts they can earn. Every member is on the Road to Gold challenge: fans who collect 1891 points in a season (the year Club Brugge was founded) automatically become a Gold member with extra perks.
Fans earn points not just for purchasing tickets, merchandise, or food and drink, but also for behavioral actions:
"One thing that we took along into our loyalty program at this point is come to a game 30 minutes plus before it starts and get rewarded with points. Why is that? Well, it will lower queues as it spreads the load on access gates. And it also gives fans the opportunity to have an extra drink or bite before the game."
Lotte Denoo
Head of Loyalty at Club Brugge
Points can be redeemed for a variety of rewards, which resonate with the fan's passion:
Status & Perks (Club ID Gold): Achieving Gold Status (e.g., by maintaining 90% attendance) unlocks future perks and a 5% cashback on their season subscription.
Fans can also request a free Club Pay bank card (a detached debit card connected to their existing account, powered by Mastercard).
Using this card with Club Pay partners for everyday purchases earns the fan rewards/loyalty points that go directly into their Club Wallet. This effectively provides a way for fans to fund their in-club spending using external purchases, extending the club's value beyond the stadium.
"And I think that's interesting because for a fan, obviously life gets more expensive. We’re aware that we’re asking them to engage more... And that's where you want to make sure that the balance doesn't tilt towards the wrong side. So we're trying to give them funds as well to feed their personal fan journey."
Thomas Rypens
Innovation & Insights Director at Club Brugge
The Club Loyalty program transforms the emotional bond of fandom into a sustainable, measurable business model.
It allows Club Brugge to extend the club's influence far beyond the physical stadium.
"We are building a membership that unites all of our fans, inside the stadium and beyond. The benefits we offer go far beyond the physical matchday experience: they deliver value to supporters at home and around the country. Our goal is to create a sustainable model where every black-and-blue fan can feel like a member of our community."
Lotte Denoo
Head of Loyalty at Club Brugge
