What is a Client Reference Number (CRN) or Fan ID?

TL;DR

A CRN (Client Reference Number), often called a Fan ID or supporter number, is the unique ID a club gives each fan's account. Tickets, points, memberships and purchases are all tied to it.

What does “Client Reference Number (CRN) / Fan ID” mean?

Clubs issue a CRN or Fan ID when a fan creates an account, buys a ticket or joins as a member. It's free and usually doesn't expire. Fans use it to log in, to buy tickets for friends and family (who need their own CRN), and to identify themselves to the ticket office.

Ticket Access Points, ballots and ticket transfers are typically recorded against the CRN. At Tottenham Hotspur, for instance, ticketing points are awarded once per CRN per game.

How does it relate to football membership?

The CRN is the key that links a membership to everything else. If membership sits in a different system from ticketing, retail or streaming, the CRN is what lets the club join those records into one view of the fan. When it's missing or duplicated, the club loses track of who its members are and what they do.

How Limio helps

Limio stores the club's CRN or Fan ID against each member and passes it to ticketing, the CRM and other systems with every join, upgrade and renewal, so membership data always lands on the right fan record. See why clubs should unify fan data in their CRM.

Want to see how Limio runs football membership? Talk to our team.