Feature: Ticketing technology gets smart - November 2006  

The spectacle of soccer or rugby fans shivering in queues at the box office on cold winter days could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a raft of new ticketing innovations designed to improve efficiencies and boost the bottom line, writes Mark Bisson.

Coca-Cola Championship soccer club Southend United, conqueror of Manchester United in the Carling Cup on 7 November, may not be known for its progressive image but it is upping the ante to overhaul the ticketing side of its business. Reaching out to its customers on their mobile phones is a key development in the club's evolution.
The club is currently working with German mobile technology provider Smartmachine to make m-ticketing available at its Roots Hall ground later this season or early next. M-ticketing is essentially a barcoded ticket bought over the phone or online that can be sent to a customer's mobile phone for scanning through the turnstiles at the stadium entrance - a move that allows fans to avoid any lengthy lines on matchdays.
Fans are poised to reap the benefits - convenience, security (a 2D bar code ensures peace of mind) and flexibility (fans can buy on impulse). According to its website, Smartmachine will be offering Southend improved cost efficiencies for ticket sales, negating the need for paper tickets, accelerated response times to customer demands and "new marketing possibilities, a fresh approach with additional tools". Engendering fan loyalty is a crucial element of the new approach.
Club spokesman David Scriven told Sport and Technology: "Fans will be able to phone up about game X, buy a ticket and get it sent to them as a picture message on their mobile. They can then scan their phones at the turnstile's barcode reader and gain quick entry to the ground. It's great for fans because it'll be so easy." Furthermore, the new technology will allow fans to use their mobiles to check up on seating availability for future home games and buy tickets for their preferred location within the stadium.
"The potential is huge. It will put less strain on the ticket office," added Scriven. "Customers can help themselves at their own leisure. People will like the fact they can buy tickets quickly and won't have to wait for someone to tear off the stub."

Data capture

For Southend, m-ticketing marks a logical step forward following its installation of Tickets.com's ProVenueMax solution a year or so ago. It uses the system to manage the sale of all tickets sold via its ticket office, including advance and match day ticket sales. And it also supports the club's marketing efforts by enabling comprehensive data capture and marketing analysis reports.
"It's been pretty successful," admitted Scriven. "The game against Manchester United showed how well it can stand up to rigorous use. We had a sell-out and had to shift a lot of tickets. We were able to do that in a short space of time with the minimum of fuss."
Fellow Championship contender West Bromwich Albion, along with League One's Scunthorpe United and Swansea City and League Two's MK Dons, also utilise similar technologies from Tickets.com.
Southend's ProVenueMax solution is integrated with the access control system allowing fans to gain quicker entrance to the stadium on match days. It's also linked with the CRM technology and enables staff to target fans with marketing promotions and keep them informed of the club's events and activities. "We can't cope with a lot of people coming through the turnstiles. It gives us far greater flow capacity," added Scriven.
"These technologies will move with us when we move to our new stadium where we'll be adding further improvements and innovations."
Dion Luyk, Tickets.com's sales manager for UK and Ireland, says the company's "approach to intelligent venue management" for soccer clubs such as Southend United and MK Dons is paying dividends. "With the ProVenueMax system, venues really can benefit from the latest in online technology and give their fans access to tickets wherever and whenever they like. In addition, our in-house ticketing solution is designed for maximum speed and ease of use, meaning that box office procedures are streamlined and the customer’s experience is improved," he said.

Rugby first

Meanwhile, English rugby union club Gloucester has also been getting savvy in ticketing in a bid to mirror the professionalism of its soccering counterparts and bump up revenues. It was the first rugby team to join Tickets.com's client base and is currently enjoying the benefits of the ProVenueMax ticketing solution.
Gloucester signed a deal with the ticketing service provider in second/third quarter 2005 and hasn't looked back since. The system manages sales made from both the club’s ticket office and the official website www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk. It also enables Gloucester to take advantage of comprehensive marketing and reporting functionality to boost revenues and form closer relationships with supporters.
Ken Nottage, the club's managing director, told Sport and Technology that the system has made a significant impact. "It enables us to do more than just sell tickets. It allows us to interrogate the database to collect detailed information about our supporters quickly and efficiently. That is the strength of the system.
“We have a good database which allows us to drive season ticket sales, other match day tickets and market promotional offers. It certainly has helped us boost revenues."
The benefits seen by both Gloucester and Southend United reveal how important it is to integrate ticketing and CRM systems with access control technologies. As soccer and rugby clubs, together with other sports like cricket, seek to modernise their businesses to match those in other industry sectors, experience has shown that customer service remains key. A word of warning though: manipulating your database is one thing, using the information to maximise revenues and maintain fan loyalty is quite another.

Mark Bisson is a UK-based freelance sports business writer and the former editor of Stadia Magazine. You can contact him at markbisson@hotmail.com.

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