Ticketing Symposium: Industry Leaders Focus On Need For Variable Pricing

The current and future state of ticketing was discussed in the first session of the second annual SBJ/SBD Ticketing Symposium, with the panelists discussing why teams get ticket pricing wrong. Paciolan CEO Dave Butler mentioned the need for variable ticket prices, noting, “Where you’re reacting daily to the market forces is the way to get this right, because it’s impossible to get it right six months before the season starts.” Ticket retailer ScoreBig Chair, co-Founder & CEO Adam Kanner said, “We need to understand that we have two fans in the building, even though they’re the same person depending on the game. You’ve got the avid fan and you’ve got the casual fan, which means you need to look at the channels by which you reach the casual fan versus thinking about everything for the avid fan. One way to increase prices and make sure your building is full and to maximize revenue is to make sure you have a mix of avid and casual fans.”

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE: Butler noted he is a share partner for both the Ducks and Dodgers and for years did not receive communications from the teams because he is not the primary account holder. Butler: “Now I find there is a lot more interest in trying to reach out to the share partners. … It’s an untapped opportunity to find out who’s buying and coming to your games.” NFL VP/Club Business Development Brian Lafemina said one of the challenges in working for a league is that often the “primary season-ticket holder doesn’t want to let the club know who their share partners are.” Lafemina: “We are going to have to be a little more clever … in trying to capture that information from the primary point of contact.”

• Kanner, on the use of dynamic and variable pricing: “Remember, no season-ticket holder likes to see their ticket marketed for less. There’s a real issue around discounting. Discounting is really dangerous in this industry.”

• Lafemina, on the need to treat fans better: “Every single person in our stadium, whether they’re sitting in the cheapest seat or the most expensive -- they’re like Black Card members to us. … The lowest-priced ticket is the best customer in the NFL, and we don’t treat them that way. We don’t treat that relationship as sacredly as we should anymore.”
• Butler, on the secondary ticket market: “The secondary market exists. We lost the war. Five years ago, every team would have said we don’t want it. But let’s be honest -- the consumers like it, that’s why they all go there. … I would say to a team president, ‘It may concern you, but saying I won’t participate is not the answer.’”