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Tickets.com targets the minors
MLBAM unit has deals with 17 clubs, goal of reaching 100
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The Class A Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds are among the teams that have hired Tickets.com.
Photo by: RIPKEN BASEBALL
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Tickets.com is making a sizable entry into the affiliated minor leagues, signing 17 clubs in recent months and pushing for substantially more.
Nearly 12 years after MLB Advanced Media bought the California-based company, Tickets.com is making its first concerted effort into minor league baseball, and this week will for the first time have a presence at the Winter Meetings Trade Show in National Harbor, Md. There, it will have a booth and compete head-to-head against competitors within the fragmented space, including TicketReturn.com and Glitnir Ticketing, for new minor-league business.
“This is an initiative that we’ve turned into a mission and a strategy, and it’s a large vertical we’re attacking,” said Joe Choti, Tickets.com president and chief executive. “This is a very unique and locally driven part of the business in which no two venues operate the same way. And it’s really different from a lot of other segments in which there’s a much higher concentration on day-of-game sales in a lot of minor league markets. But it’s also a space where we see a lot of opportunity and upside.”
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Clubs like the El Paso Chihuahuas want more modern ticketing options.
Photo by: POPULOUS |
Tickets.com has signed the Class AAA Round Rock (Texas) Express and El Paso (Texas) Chihuahuas, Class AA Akron (Ohio) RubberDucks, and Class A Aberdeen (Md.) IronBirds, among others. In many instances, the teams sought out Tickets.com’s ProVenue platform to incorporate more modern features into their ticketing as their deals with their primary ticket providers expired.
“This is going to give us a lot more electronic integration into how we operate our ticketing,” said Matt Slatus, IronBirds general manager, who worked with Tickets.com while director of marketing and corporate partnerships for Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.
“We felt that our fans needed to be able to buy tickets from us in the same way they do a [Baltimore] Orioles ticket right down the road from us or an airline boarding pass, and now we can begin to offer those kinds of options in terms of online management, mobile entry and so forth,” Slatus said.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but many of the deals involve revenue sharing from sold tickets and software licensing fees. Most minor league clubs offer tickets at low prices, with many seats costing below $10 a game. But Choti said Tickets.com’s minor league plan is based in part on a volume-oriented approach in which it will look to sign at least 100 teams, and the idea that ProVenue contains enough flexibility as a white-label technology product to serve multiple markets and adapt quickly, a notion supported by the new team clients.
“How do you offer the kinds of features and modern ticketing fans now demand, particularly in a place like ours where we’re selling tickets for $5 and our most expensive standard ticket is $9?” said Ken Babby, founder and chairman of the Fast Forward Sports Group, which owns the RubberDucks. “Up until now, we really haven’t had a good answer to that question within the industry. But this is a model we’re really excited about, and one I think a lot of other people will be watching.”
Tickets.com’s ProVenue platform is also integrating directly with Score CRM GameDay, a customer relationship management product by MTP Software used by many minor league clubs. Tickets.com and Massachusetts-based MTP Software are operating in an informal business relationship in which clients of each will be directed toward the other provider.
