For commercially minded Sports Facilities, success isn’t just about a blocked out calendar — it’s about ensuring those bookings actually happen.
One key metric that often gets overlooked? Your Late Cancellation Rate (LCR).
N.B. This article is an expansion on a previous topic we have covered before, “The Pitchbooking Guide to Reducing Late Cancellations and No-Shows”. This blog post covered some of the practical first steps you can take to take control of late cancellations and no-shows at your facilities.
The following article instead focuses more on our analysis of the data from existing Pitchbooking Partners and the financial outcomes from small changes to the bookings and payments process.
What is your Late Cancellation Rate (LCR) and Why does it Matter?
Your LCR is the percentage of bookings that are cancelled shortly prior to the booking taking place. Whilst the definition "shortly" can vary across sports and facility type, it typically means in the 48 hours prior to the booking taking place.
Every late cancellation is lost revenue. Unlike a restaurant that can rely on a walk-in if there’s a no-show, a cancelled 5-a-side pitch at 8PM on a Tuesday (the classic “Big Champions League fixture” phenomenon!) is unlikely to be rebooked at short notice. That means:
❌ Empty slots = Zero revenue but no reduction in costs
❌ Disrupted staffing & operational inefficiencies
❌ Unreliable revenue forecasting
What’s Driving Late Cancellations & Lost Revenue?
From our work with hundreds of leading sports facilities, we see these three common trends:
🔹 No consequences – If there’s no clear policy in place, customers can & will cancel last minute without thinking twice.
🔹 Minimal upfront commitment – If payment, or an agreement to make payment isn’t required at the time of booking, customers have no financial incentive to turn up.
🔹 Too much admin to resell the slot – What happens when your team are informed of a cancellation, especially for a block booking. Can they easily make that slot available for others to book?
How to Fix It
✅ Enforce a clear cancellation policy – A standard 24 or 48 hour notice period with a penalty for late cancellations protects your bottom line. pitchbooking.com can provide template cancellation policies for Sports Facilities, completely free of charge.
✅ Take payment (or promise of) at the point of booking – This drastically reduces no-shows and cancellations. In our experience, this alone can lead to a 50% reduction in the LCR within months, with no other changes required.
✅ Automate the rebooking process – If a slot opens up, can another customer instantly book it?
Keeping a Balance - Remember to see things from your Customers POV
While reducing your Late Cancellation Rate (LCR) is crucial for maximising revenue, it’s equally important to strike a balance with customer fairness. Unexpected situations—injuries, illnesses, or last-minute emergencies—mean that no venue will ever achieve zero cancellations, nor should that be the goal. A well-structured policy should discourage avoidable late cancellations while still allowing flexibility for genuine cases. The key is clear communication, fair enforcement, and smart automation—so you protect your bottom line without alienating loyal customers.
Now for a real life example: A Simple Shift = Big Revenue Gains
Let’s break it down with a simple example we have encountered of a moderately sized Sports Centre:
🏟️ Imagine your Sports Centre has:
• 100 bookable slots per day (across all your facilities: courts, pitches, halls etc)
• £45 average booking price
• A late cancellation rate of 8%
That means 8 bookings per day are going unpaid due to last-minute cancellations.
💸 Revenue lost per week:
8 cancellations x £45 per booking x 7 days = £2,520 lost every week
💸 Revenue lost per year:
£2,520 x 52 weeks = £131,040 in lost revenue annually
Now, what if you applied some of our best practices around bookings and payments processes to cut your late cancellation rate from 8% to 3%?
🔹 Reducing your LCR to 3% would recover £81,900 per year.
🚀 That’s revenue straight back into your business. And whats more, its a completely achievable goal based on what other Sports Facilities we work with are achieving.
At Pitchbooking, we help Sports Facilities reduce cancellations and maximise bookings through automated payments, scheduling tools, and marketing features. How much could you recover by tackling your late cancellations?
Get in touch via info@pitchbooking.com or book in for a no-hassle demo with a member of our team at this link.