The opening panel of the '15 Veritix Ticketing Symposium tackled a wide swath of issues driven to one simple question -- where is the business of ticketing headed? The discussion ranged from selling to millennials, to improving group sales and advancing mobile technology. How to approach millennials was a theme that popped up repeatedly. IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions Founder & VP Matt DiFebo joked that recent research showed that millennials have an average attention span of about eight seconds, meaning "they probably would have tuned into something else by the time I get done with my answer." Veritix CEO Samuel Gerace noted one thing millennials are being smart about is "how they spend their time." Millennials also are “price-educated," he said, and may "access 6 and 7 places for information before making a purchasing decision."
GET TOGETHER: Pirates Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Drew Cloud noted that while PNC Park remains a great ballpark, the club "had to address the fact that we didn't have social gathering areas." Cloud: "For our first renovation in 15 years, all of the areas that we built out were built with that social kind of experience in mind." Timbers President of Business Operations Mike Golub noted the team, in line with some other MLS clubs, made its supporters’ area at Providence Park general admission across 6,000 seats. The concept helped create "communities within the community," and the free movement within the section "really contributes to the environment we've been able to create."
PHONE HOME: Ticketmaster Exec VP/Revenue Cole Gahagan said apps need to begin to give fans the opportunity to "interact with the team that they love natively in that app and to do every single thing that they can do -- search for tickets, buy season tickets, renew season tickets, have tickets delivered to that app, buy food and beverage and have that delivered -- all of that experience coming from the team app." Gerace noted that 67% of mobile users at events "post content." Golub said that while his team's ticket sales are 10% on mobile, there remains a "spiritual attachment" to the physical ticket. He said fans will post content upon receiving those tickets -- including fans kissing tickets, and, in one extreme case, a naked woman covering herself in season tickets.
QUICK HITS:
* Gahagan: "I don't know if there is anything more important that we're doing right now as a technology company than developing around mobile."
* Gerace: "Going online is going on the phone. Web is dead. We've reached the tipping point."
* StubHub Head of Partnerships & Business Development Geoff Lester: "The secondary market, from our perspective, cannot grow in sports. It's tapped out."
