Prioritising Access to Limited Tickets in the ‘New Normal’
Sports Geek Sean Callanan’s #SportsBizZoom Calls have been a bright spark of industry connection and insights over recent months, with last week’s discussion turning towards the subject of ‘Ticketing in 2021’. Venue and event managers face continued challenges navigating the delivery of COVID-safe events and a key question posed to them in their role as gatekeepers amidst capacity restrictions is ‘how do we determine who gets access?’
Traditional supply-and-demand economics suggest the simple answer is to charge premium prices for the limited tickets or memberships available, which would certainly assist to cover the substantial overheads of COVID-safe event management. For transient events this approach may be appropriate, but the majority of the sector would see any short-term gains quickly eradicated through the disenchantment of loyal advocates who have invested emotional and financially in the organisation for years or generations.
Managing the expectations of members alongside a diverse group of stakeholders including sponsors, club alumni and media personnel is challenging. Tough decisions will need to be made and stakeholders will want to know there is a fair and equitable way that ticketing access is being managed.
So what does a fair method look like?
One method organisations can use to prioritise access is to balance the financial investment stakeholders make with their emotional and physical investment (loyalty).
As the example below outlines, all stakeholders are percentile-ranked for both their spend in the event/organisation (across sponsorship and membership) as well as a measure of their loyalty. Organisations could calculate loyalty in a variety of ways - attendance rates, years of membership or volunteerism - but the essence of its definition should address ‘to what degree have they supported us where have a duty to reciprocate in this moment?’
Example approach for prioritising stakeholders according to financial investment and loyalty
Once stakeholders have been mapped on the scatter plot, organisations can prioritise ticketing access with a lower potential for bias that can occur through cross-departmental lobbying.
Take the example of a mid-tier sponsor who uses their ticketing allocation once in a blue moon, and the member who has used their Gold membership every game for the past five years. The former carries more status and prestige, but do they deserve higher ticketing priority? Using the balanced investment approach allows managers to map their stakeholders according to a broader view of value, and to approach ticketing discussions with each group pragmatically.
Calculating for your organisation
Whether you are overseeing membership for a professional team or a grassroots football club, it is useful to have a transparent system for prioritising event access that balances short-term financial security whilst not placing the pillars of its community offside.
Forward Pivot can work securely with your membership data to create member segments that be used to fairly allocate priority access to capped events - click below to get in touch with us today.
