Just received this email from the club
Dear Member,
Firstly may I send you a personal thank you for your support of Harlequins over the years! I hope that you and yours are keeping well during these unprecedented times.
Understandably, for many, sport and rugby may not be the highest of priorities. However while we wait for some clarity on when sport will return, I wanted to contact you directly as a valued Season Ticket Member to provide some information about how we are committed to helping you, and also give a little background as to why your support is so important, now more than ever.
Some of you may have seen a recent interview I did with Rugby Today on BT Sport (you can watch it here), during which I set out just how big a financial challenge we as a Club are facing. Speaking honestly, with almost all our revenue stream effectively switched off several weeks ago, and as I write this, no current visibility on when the postponed matches will be rescheduled, this is an absolutely critical time for our Club. We are working extremely hard to do everything we can to preserve the jobs for our 180 staff and I am pleased to say that we have the full support of our owners, investors and sponsors. However it is absolutely vital that we maintain means to generate income for the Club during these difficult months so we can secure its future, which is why the renewal window for your Season Ticket Membership has remained open.
As you may be aware, the renewal deadline to secure your Season Ticket Membership is 9th June. While I understand that you have not yet committed to renewing your 2020/21 Membership, we are extremely grateful to the nearly half of our Season Ticket Members who have already signed up to next season. This not only shows the invaluable support there is for the Club at this important time, but also the hunger to watch live sport again, once it’s safe to do so. The financial support these Memberships provide is absolutely crucial, giving the Club a hugely important and large proportion of its financial income and helping us to effectively plan for the coming months. It is therefore important that this deadline remains in place at this stage.
We do of course understand that some of you may be facing your own challenges, or simply not wish to commit to next season when the end of this current season is not confirmed. That is why we are supporting our Members with an interest free Direct Debit Membership option, from around £28 per month for Jester Members, to help spread the cost. Should your circumstances change, please know that all Members also have the option to cancel their Season Ticket Membership, resulting in a full refund before the first match of the 2020/21 season, which hopefully provides you with some additional financial security.
With regard to the current 2019/20 season, I wanted to assure you that we are doing everything in our power to complete the remaining matches, once it is safe to do so. At this stage, the Gallagher Premiership has seen the postponement of matches only. Tickets and therefore Memberships for these matches will still be valid for the re-arranged matches. However should these matches be cancelled, or government advice specifies that further restrictions are put in place, meaning we are unable to honour the end of 2019/20 season or some of 2020/21 season, please be rest assured that we will take appropriate action and provide the offer of compensation for the relevant events to all our Season Ticket Members.
I hope this has helped provide some visibility into the current status of the Club. As many are, the Club is facing a very challenging time and while renewing your Season Ticket Membership is very much a personal choice, we sincerely hope that you are able to commit to Harlequins’ future. If you would like to secure your seat for next season you can do so before the 9th June by visiting our website here.
Finally it leaves me to say a huge thank you from everyone at the Club for your unwavering support of the Club to date. I very much hope we can welcome you back to The Stoop in the not too distant future.
COYQ!
Laurie Dalrymple,
Harlequins Chief Executive Officer