Case study: Ticketmaster UK\'s Synchro Systems - January 2004  

As the sports industry embraces the world of e-commerce, the Ticketmaster Group claims to be leading the way in fulfilling ticketing needs, writes Paul Williamson, sales director of Ticketmaster UK.

The sports industry is becoming increasingly more sophisticated in its attempts to create and develop more fruitful relationships with its customers. In their efforts to become more customer-focused, clubs across the sporting genre are shifting their attention to the potential of internet ticketing and CRM in order to increase revenue.
Spearheading this commercial development is the Ticketmaster Group, whose expertise in the world of ticketing is allowing clubs to deliver a greater level of ticketing flexibility than ever before. The December 2003 match for England's rugby union World Cup winners at Twickenham was a case in point. In particular Ticketmaster UK, the largest retailer of tickets for the entertainments industry in the country and Synchro Systems, a subsidiary of the Ticketmaster Group and the market-leading provider of computerised ticket office systems, are at the cutting edge of developing the very technologies which are addressing the key issues faced by all professional sports clubs, such as the Rugby Football Union.

Online ticketing developments

The switch towards internet-led ticketing is seen by the Ticketmaster Group and its clients as a natural progression, making both sound business and technical sense. The fundamental advantages for employing online ticketing in a business context include:

1. Fraud Prevention: Credit/debit Card authorisation is facilitated by the AVS number accreditation ensuring maximum security. Additionally, restrictions can be place upon factors such as the amount of tickets an individual can purchase, so that tickets can be traced thus preventing touting.
2. Convenience: 24-hour facilitation allows customers have round-the-clock access to check availability and purchase match tickets, whilst the club does not require a physical labour presence.
3. Cost Efficiency: Integrated internet booking applications, such as e-tickets, interact directly and in real-time with the Ticket Office database meaning that labour-intensive tasks such as data inputting and ticket allocation become redundant to club staff.
4. Peak Performance: Performance parameters testing has identified that e-tickets can deal with load times of up to 1,000 simultaneous web users with no detrimental effects placed upon the system or database, and with transaction response times of 12 seconds, it is essentially more efficient than a traditional ticket office.

CRM functionality

The internet is not the only technological advancement being exploited by sports clubs. Synchro Systems has identified and developed solutions which incorporate CRM functionality via its flagship product, Venuemaster. CRM functionality, the Ticketmaster Group firmly believes, will give clubs a commercial advantage allowing:

• Profiling individual's buyer behaviour patterns.
• Segmentation and targeting of groups for promotional activity.
• Personalisation of communications for relationship development.
• Campaign delivery via e-mail, SMS, mail or telephone.

The unique relationship that Ticketmaster and Synchro Systems can offer can be reflected no more successfully than during the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, where Synchro Systems' pioneering Venuemaster ticketing allocation software was used in tandem with Ticketmaster's key call centre and an internet booking infrastructure, culminating in delivering the most successful multi-event sporting showcase ever, with over 900,000 tickets sold.
This achievement, coupled with the wealth of experience and expertise that the Ticketmaster Group has within the sports industry, has led to the same business partnership being selected for the most prestigious sporting events of 2004 - Euro 2004 (soccer) and Athens 2004 (Olympic Games). Within these, software developments are being tailored to suit their unique requirements, most notably ballot selection for over-subscribed events.
With the group focus placed upon continual technological development, Ticketmaster continues to meet the ever-changing demands of the sporting world.

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