English soccer game did not deliver such a big bounce for N.L. after all: province

Barrow's Ged Garner, left, challenges for the ball with Chelsea's Renato Veiga during the English League Cup third-round soccer match between Chelsea and Barrow at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Sept. 24. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Kirsty Wigglesworth

Newfoundland and Labrador's return on investment for sponsoring a professional English soccer team was not quite as rosy as previously claimed.

In September, Liberal Immigration Minister Sarah Stoodley told The Canadian Press that a government website whose address was emblazoned on the jerseys of Barrow AFC saw a boost in traffic after the English side played a match against top-tier titans Chelsea FC.

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She said the HomeAwaits.ca site, which offers information about moving to Newfoundland and Labrador, typically received between 50,000 and 55,0000 visitors per day and that jumped by about 1,200 after Barrow hit the pitch against Chelsea on Sept. 24.

However, after recent questioning from the Shoreline News, a community newspaper, the province has corrected the figures.

The department said this week that the figure of roughly 50,000 actually represented the total number of visitors to the site between June 22 and Sept. 28, and although the site did see a bump of 1,200 users in the day after the Chelsea game, that still didn't match peak traffic of 9,303 more than a week before the Chelsea game.

A spokesperson said the department learned about the error a bit more than a week ago, when a reporter for the Shoreline News asked for comment about an access-to-information request detailing the correct figures.

The department said the incorrect figures cited by the minister came from an email sent from an "external vendor," a marketing firm based in St. John's. "Thank you for your inquiry and the opportunity to correct this information," department spokesperson Allison King said this week after questions from The Canadian Press.

Newfoundland and Labrador announced in June that it had spent $171,000 to sponsor Barrow AFC, based in northern England. As part of the deal, the team's yellow-and-black jerseys this year feature a large red Maple Leaf over the province's name, as well as the HomeAwaits.ca address.

The team from Barrow-in-Furness had a banner year, which earned them a match against Chelsea in September, in the race for the English Football League cup.

Stoodley said the sponsorship was aimed at attracting more skilled workers to the province, such as doctors, nurses and social workers.

Final figures obtained by Shoreline News and shared with The Canadian Press show that of more than 58,000 people who visited the site during the period in question, about 2,254 — roughly four per cent — were from the United Kingdom.

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"Home Awaits is where we direct traffic from all our international recruitment activities. That includes activities in Latin America, India, Nigeria, Philippines, U.K., Europe and other key markets," King said in an email.

The province's Opposition Progressive Conservative Party has called the sponsorship deal a "shockingly irresponsible waste" of taxpayer dollars.

“Even if viewers notice the tiny website address on a jersey crowded with other wording and symbols, how does advertising on a soccer jersey get people to move to Newfoundland and Labrador?” Party leader Tony Wakeham asked in a press release earlier this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.