English Premiership rugby union club Wasps has agreed a partnership with coach company Zeelo to aid the travel needs of its fans when attending games at the Ricoh Arena.
Wasps moved to the Coventry stadium in 2014, 90 miles from its previous base where it served as a tenant at Adams Park, Wycombe.
With the club still holding a significant fan base in its previous home region, it has entered into the new partnership. Zeelo uses its AI platform RINA to help local coach companies identify demand for new and popular routes.
The new service will launch for Wasps fans ahead of the club’s Anglo-Welsh Cup clash versus Leicester Tigers on Sunday, with routes running to the Ricoh Arena from Maidenhead, Hillingdon, High Wycombe and Stratford-upon-Avon. More routes are planned in the future.
Scott Paul, head of ticket sales at Wasps and the Ricoh Arena, said: “We have trialled this service with Zeelo from Stratford-upon-Avon for our last two home games and it has been a resounding success, selling out a 49-seater coach on both occasions – and as a result we are rolling this out further.
“While the club’s roots are now firmly in Coventry and the West Midlands, we still have a significant proportion of fans that travel up from the South East and we feel this service fits their needs.
“Zeelo are doing some really exciting things already in terms of fan engagement and are very forward thinking in terms of their operations. The hope is that, in the long run, we will be able to add more West Midlands services to the portfolio which will make the Ricoh Arena much more accessible to Wasps supporters from other West Midlands areas including Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire so that they can enjoy match days in comfort and with like-minded supporters.”
Current routes to the Ricoh Arena from Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick and Kenilworth are also being taken over by Zeelo.
Barney Williams, co-founder at Zeelo, added: “We’ve cut our teeth with a number of football teams, carrying tens of thousands of enthusiasts last year alone.
“Wasps fans who might have previously had to take long and expensive journeys can now take an easy coach journey with like-minded people to and from the match, and with our app they can even track their coach from afar so there is no stress.”
Share this