advanced theory and practice in sport marketing - Marshalls University

THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL SPORT MARKETING – Continued
have enabled us to operate our business more effectively saving both time
and enhancing our internal business processes.”
Venue operators have been able to use e-ticketing to reduce box office
operating costs and offer a better quality of service to customers. Fans can
select their preferred seat, ticket type, and payment choice at a time and place
that is convenient for their lifestyle. Box offices are limited by manpower and
the number of customer points, such as box office windows or telephone
lines, whereas ticketing systems are able to cope with peak demand and
process transactions much quicker. This now means that some events can
literally sell out in minutes.
Venue Solutions have further developed electronic ticketing by creating a
product that integrates with venue and business management systems. Venue-
Cast, which has been developed in partnership with CRM specialist Pivotal
Corporation, Siemens and Sony, integrates with ticketing software supplier
Synchro Systems. Dominic Berger, Managing Director of Venue Solutions,
believes that ticketing data is essential to sports organizations for business planning:
“Trends can be identified, ROI on marketing campaigns can be analyzed
and new programs can be developed. By cross-referencing across multiple information
sources, this adds value across all business departments.”
Fulfillment and Access Control
Technology has revolutionized the channels via which consumers can purchase
tickets as well as the ways in which transactions can be fulfilled and
how sports fans enter a venue.
The traditional paper ticket is still a popular and versatile medium and has
benefited from enhancements such as special inks and barcodes. This has not
only improved venue safety and security by reducing opportunities for counterfeit
tickets and providing more efficient access control, but has also
enhanced customer service.
Some venues have introduced kiosks to supplement the box office. The
kiosks are able to read credit or debit card and instantly print tickets, thereby
reducing queues at box office windows. They are particularly suited for
ticket collections from the box office and also generate incremental sales
from walk-ups and by reducing walkaways. The NFL Atlanta Braves were
one of the first organizations to introduce kiosks and can process 2000 tickets
per game from the units located at their Turner Field stadium. Kiosk technology
has further evolved and can now be integrated with a turnstile so that
customers no longer have to queue separately to first purchase a ticket only
to then queue again to access the venue.
Barcodes have also enabled print-at-home ticketing and have been applied to
media such as smart cards and mobile phones. More sports fans are now
Continued
ENTERPRISE SPORT MARKETING MANAGEMENT 369