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Ticketing Execs Discuss The Shift To Mobile, Opportunities Overseas

Devils CMO and Senior VP/Ticket Sales & Marketing Michael Williams said overseas sports properties are a “good barometer” for the advancement of mobile ticketing practices, “especially some of the soccer clubs.” Williams spoke during “The Next Wave: Exploring Mobile Ticketing” panel at the inaugural SBJ/SBD Ticketing Symposium at the W Hoboken in New Jersey, part of this week's AT&T Sports Facilities & Franchises conference. Also on the panel were International Micro Systems CEO & President Jim Shrader and Royals VP/Marketing & Sales Mike Bucek, who echoed the theme of faster adaptation in foreign markets. Bucek: “As Michael said, in this country, it just takes a longer period of time, for whatever reason, for some of these technologies to be accepted.” Bucek also pointed out the demographic differences in adaptation speed within his own fan base: “The younger demos seem very comfortable with it. The older demo, they like having that hard ticket. … We’ve got a little bit of an older fan base, so we really have to work harder to gain awareness.” When asked if minorities are quicker to adapt new technologies, Williams said, “I wouldn’t speak necessarily from a team standpoint, but from the event and building standpoint, that’s absolutely true. When we have concerts and events that are probably more minority-driven … those promoters and those acts that we work with always have some sort of mobile technology, some sort of promotion to help push that.” But Bucek said the numbers he has seen from mobile ticketing data have been “relatively small, and I have not seen demographic breakdown on any of that.” Shrader said there are “a lot of operational issues” related to mobile purchasing models apart from the technology itself, and these issues pertain to “all of the constituents” of a sports property, including leagues, teams and concessionaires.

Bucek says Royals working closely with MLBAM
on development of team's mobile site
TEAMING WITH THE LEAGUE: Bucek said the Royals “have worked very closely” with MLBAM on the development of their mobile site. MLBAM owns Tickets.com, the team’s mobile ticketing partner, and Bucek called that relationship “cohesive” and “seamless.” Bucek: “There’s a lot of experimentation going on. They tell us the development and kind of what they’re aiming to do, and they rely on the club to promote it.” Bucek cited the club’s at-ballpark promotion of the At Bat app as an example. This reiterates statements made in an earlier panel by Indians Dir of Communications & Creative Services Curtis Danburg, who complimented MLBAM on its social media collaborations with the franchise. Meanwhile, Williams said the NHL has been “fantastic” working with teams on mobile ticketing. Williams: “The NHL is known for being very aggressive. … Other leagues kind of look to the NHL in taking some of those best practices.” Shrader said his company, a third-party vendor, is “starting to get a lot of play from the NFL” despite the league’s already strong season-ticket base. 

WORKING ON A BUILDING
: While franchises such as the Yankees have banned iPads from their venue, Williams said the Devils actually rent about 15-20 iPads to fans at Prudential Center for each home game. The team also has Mission Control, a fan-driven social media hub at Prudential Center that generates content and engages other fans. This plays into what Williams described as a “pre-, during and post-event” mobile marketing strategy around games. Bandwidth and network capacity represent other in-arena challenges for mobile marketing/purchasing. Bucek: “If we get to a point where we’ve got a crowd of 35,000, they’ve all got their iPhones on and they’re trying to upload pictures, we don’t have the pipe in the building to be able to handle that.” He said the team may install a WiFi system for the ’12 MLB All-Star Game. Bucek said despite being renovated in ‘09, Kaufmann Stadium in this respect is “totally outdated by 2011.” Bucek: “It’s hard to believe, but the growth in this area is so rapid.”

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