BoardGameGeek’s support drive numbers fall for third year running

BoardGameGeek’s annual end-of-year support drive has fallen short of its target again, with the number of supporters pledging payment to the site during the event dropping for the third year in a row.

BGG has set a target of 18,000 paid supporters committing to its annual drives since 2018, and exceeded that goal in the three subsequent years – but has not managed to replicate that success in the 2022 or 2023 campaigns.

About 17,048 supporters pledged money to BGG in the 2023 drive last month – the lowest number since 2015. Support reached a peak in 2020 with 19,200 supporters, before falling to 18,600 in 2021 and 17,200 in 2022.

That is in stark contrast to overall user figures for the site, which attracts about 4.7 million unique users each month and has about 2.7 million registered users, according to its advertiser-focused marketing kit.

BGG relies heavily on its user base for content contributions, with visitors having submitted 20 million articles, about four million images and about 250,000 files, the kit adds.

In terms of funding, the website also runs banner advertisements and charges for prime spots on its crowdfunding countdown feature and for running giveaway contests.

BoardGameWire approached BGG co-founder Scott Alden for comment on the figures, and whether missing its target again would have any impact on the site’s video and podcast offerings, but did not receive a response.

He wrote on the site while promoting the 2023 support drive, “Keeping a website the size of BoardGameGeek running takes considerable time and a LOT of money. It simply would not be possible to do without your paid support.

“Your paid support helps cover the costs of running our servers and paying for bandwidth without our resorting to the kinds of intrusive ads that are more and more commonplace these days.

“Your paid support also allows us to continue producing shows like GameNight! (500 episodes and counting!) with Lincoln and Nikki, the BoardGameGeek Podcast with Candice, and content like BoardGameGeek News with Eric.

“Most importantly, your paid support literally helps makes sure that everyone in the world can continue to use BoardGameGeek.”