We wanted to take the time to look back on the past six months of our return to live series communications and recap on what we’ve been doing at Ticketmaster Sport to make the return of fans to stadiums as simple as possible for our clients. Whilst that date to bring fans back is still unknown we’re pleased to have led the charge forward in supporting every one of our clients through the twist and turns.
New solutions
We’ve completely pivoted our roadmap to help navigate the ongoing pandemic and to efficiently bring fans back. Each of our solutions were introduced to clients at key moments to help solve current challenges and demands.
Social Distancing Tools
Our two innovations were introduced to help sell stadiums much more efficiently and in line with SGSA guidlines:
- SIM Seat Pods – Seat pods are groups of adjacent seats that have been socially distanced before the on sale, this would be preset on the XR system and can also be modelled and uploaded directly from our scaling tool.
- Best Available Social Distance – Our best available seating algorithm can automatically socially distance fans by the number of seats in their online purchase, leaving appropriate gaps as per one of the specified models within the SGSA guidance.
Refunds – Waive, donate or keep
Following the cancellations of games we were able to offer clients a ‘waive or donate’ function as part of our new refund service. This was to give fans a choice with what they want to do in result of a refund:
- Fans could keep portion of the season ticket refund for use at a later date or against their season ticket for next year.
- They could also donate to a club cause or waive a refund to support the club
- Or keep any credit returned to their My Account profile from refunds or ticket exchange to use on any club ticketing portal for example their season ticket, single matches, memberships or upgrades.
Balloting
Ballots have been used to help manage the level of demand for a number of our clients and we’ve seen the functionality being used across the board to solve a host of challenges.
DIY ticketing – Universe
Our DIY tool, Universe has been in demand for the past six months with the meteroric rise in live streamed events. The Ticketmaster company platform rivals all other DIY platforms and can be utilised for a variety of events within a few clicks.
Accessibility
We’re proud that our accessible ticketing has now gone completely online. Offering fans the opportunity to purchase their seats, manage their requirements, and obtain companion or carer seating in the same transaction without having to contact a call centre.
Partnerships
Payment providers
We were extremely excited to announce back in July that we had partnered with Klarna and PayPal to add to our existing payment solutions and offer clients the opportunity to give their fans more payment options.
Case Studies
Whilst test events are still on pause, we were pleased to help a host of our clients to bring fans back for a brief period of time over the summer and autumn, our highlights include:
Surrey CCC
This trailblazing test event that started it all for the recovery of live sport was a special moment for UK sports. We were there to witness 1,000 of Surrey’s fans return to the iconic Kia Oval.
Scottish Rugby
We spoke to Kerry Halliday, Head of Group Ticketing & Customer Engagement for Scottish Rugby in September about their experience of the day and what went into making it happen.
