Related Articles
Ten years ago, buying a stadium ticket was pretty simple — I could buy through verified team sellers or hope to find the real deal from the scalpers at the gate. If I was lucky, I ended up with a good seat to watch the game before going home.
But buying live-game tickets isn’t just about getting the best seat anymore.
How did I decide to buy the tickets? Where did I make the purchase? Did the ticket price affect my decision, and what live-game experiences am I willing to pay for? By combining data from multiple points in the fan journey, teams, stadiums and brands can shape highly personalized venue experiences that provide ample opportunities to draw in new audiences and do their jobs better.
Here are five moments in that journey that provide valuable insight:
1. Deciding to Buy
The first moment of opportunity in a fan’s journey to a stadium is what makes them think, “I should go to the game today,” and decide to buy tickets.
Successful targeting — knowing how ads and offers get in front of consumers and convince them to buy something — offers some of the richest data out there: Are they seeing these ads on their phones, in a marketing email or as banners on websites? To illustrate, if a fan makes any buying activity on a basketball team’s merchandise site and opts into retargeting, a privacy-compliant tag is appended to that specific computer as a fan of that team. Based on that opt-in, teams and other brands can use that privacy-compliant fan data to present appropriate ads at the right time to trigger buying behavior. Alternatively, teams will enlist marketing and analytics partners. For example, one university uses The Aspire Group’s (a company acquired by Playfly Sports) fan analytics services to optimize its fan database and market its tickets via sales efforts. The partnership has recently created 40 percent year-over-year growth in football ticket revenue.
2. Deciding Where to Buy
After deciding to buy tickets, fans need to choose where to buy them. There are first-party sellers and their partners, like Ticketmaster, but also secondary ticket sellers, like VividSeats, which started with everyday fans reselling their own tickets, but now, they also resell directly from the teams. Today’s fans can rely on multiple places to buy team-approved tickets — the one they choose provides another layer to their fan data.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Price may affect where a fan buys their ticket, but pricing can change. Teams can do this manually or with automation technology, like one of Playfly’s partners, Event Dynamic, which uses AI to adjust pricing depending on variables like team performance, market activity or weather. Dedicated fans might splurge, while lower prices may sway leisure fans. These buying choices at the moment of purchase add valuable opportunities for teams, stadiums and brands to further personalize the experience for the fan.
3. Which experience to purchase
Different tickets offer different experiences. Of course, people can still buy a ticket that’s just a seat at the game, but for many fans, the full experience comes with more. Packages might include an invitation to specialty lounges and a meal or a concert after the game. The Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, for example, during the USC Football games, has a high-end lounge called 1923 Club (full disclosure: USC football is a sponsor and media sales partner of Playfly and Playfly participates as a sponsor seller for Memorial Coliseum). It’s only for fans with a certain type of ticket and has opportunities for USC sponsors to present their activations.
Pitching different levels of hospitality depends on fan data to be effective. Whether or not the offers land depends on how well those sellers understand their customers. A business person hosting their client for a game might want a higher-end hospitality experience with their tickets. A fan just looking for a fun night out on the town would require a different premium experience.
4. How Fans Experience the Stadium
Every step of a fan’s stadium experience will be different depending on the team and the fan. Smart brands are finding ways to discover where their data overlaps with team data. Take 5 Auto used this methodology recently, in partnership with Playfly Sports, by targeting fans in specific markets and venues via a unified media plus sponsorship deal with NBA teams such as the Pacers, Hawks, Spurs and Pelicans.
There are several moments where brands can use data to interact and personalize the live-game experience. Geo-location informs them of the fans’ presence in the venue. The PGA Tour app has opt-in augmented reality technology through a partner. Hold up your camera on Players’ famous 17th hole and this tech will show all golf shots from the day. On the way in or on the concourse, fans will likely encounter an experiential offering from a sponsor. Even further, at the Cleveland Browns Stadium, they use a technology partner for their lost and found. This innovation from this company combines the concept of fan data with an age-old problem of reuniting people with their lost items.
5. How They Watch the Game
During the game, digital offerings can enhance a fan’s venue experience. Many companies today are building team and venue apps where fans buy tickets and concessions or consume media during the game. The company WMT offers apps and “plusses” that integrate content, merchandise, recruiting, streaming and more (Full disclosure: WMT is a Playfly partner). For San Diego State’s Snapdragon Stadium, this company built an all-in-one venue app that offers an exclusive in-stadium experience not available to home viewers. The technology is only going to improve and marketers should be using it to improve their targeting.
Even after the game ends, there are still data points to craft a better fan experience. A finished game leaves a captive audience of thousands in stadium seats, and many organizations are using that opportunity to entice them back with post-game entertainment — a fireworks show or concert. A ticket today comes with a total stadium experience, from start to finish, and those data points fuel teams and brands to make it better: What an exciting time to be a fan!
