nba photos
Amy Brooks
President,Team Marketing & Business Operations and Chief Innovation Officer
NBA
Under Brooks’ leadership, the NBA’s TMBO group has been widely considered the industry gold standard in best practices development and has generated league record-setting results in not only ticket sales and attendance, but other areas such as sponsorships and business analytics. Most recently, Brooks was a lead figure in the renewal of the NBA’s partnership with Ticketmaster, a deal aimed at keeping the league at the forefront of emerging ticketing trends and also boosting the WNBA and the G League. And the addition last fall of chief innovation officer to her title also gives her responsibility to help develop global business strategies for the NBA and signals her rising stature in the league’s hierarchy.
Tickets to success
What do you see as the biggest change coming to ticketing in the next year? And in the next five years?
BROOKS: In the future, the digital ticket will be the jumping-off point to a variety of in-arena experiences from in-seat food, beverage and merchandise delivery, to seat upgrades, club access, augmented/virtual reality enhancements, and winning prizes and giveaways. In five years, we’ll start seeing the next-generation season ticket become a reality. This is the ticket that someone outside of our arena, cities or countries can purchase. It gives fans virtual, personalized virtual reality and augmented reality access to our game.
What market segment does the sports industry need to do a better job with in ticketing and why?
BROOKS: There is tremendous upside to the business-to-business environment. How are we cultivating and connecting the broader business community through pregame programming, unique experiences and providing a networking environment that is second to none?
What can sports learn from ticketing in other forms of live entertainment?
BROOKS: Very few forms of live entertainment have succeeded in creating a lifestyle event within the venue that actually transcends the competition itself, such as the Kentucky Derby or Coachella. These events have become daylong or multiday events in which the experiences outside of the main event or events are tremendously compelling.
What do you see as ticketing’s role in live entertainment’s battle versus the couch?
BROOKS: The in-game experience will always beat the couch due to the irreplaceable community experience it offers. Fans want to be there. However, we need to keep innovating to make the in-game experience the best it can be.
