Cincinnati has become of an exciting epicenter of a digital ticketing start-up with international potential, that being Tixers.com. Founder Alex Burkhart details how the company started with the simple request of finding a reasonable way to trade unused season tickets into a full-fledged service that has now expanded to a small sample size of users. Burkhart discusses some of the ways in which Tixers.com is not StubHub, how buyers of local tickets in the Ohio area are gaining traction with the service, and what the future holds for the company. Twitter: @Tixers
The world of ticketing has changed over the last fifteen years. Fred Maglione has witnessed that change as head of New Era Tickets, along with his extensive experience with other ticket vendors. Maglione talks about how the customer service aspects haven’t changed even though the platforms have, taking it from store outlet models to online. Maglione discusses the aspect of service fees, whether they should be bundled into the promoter ticket prices, and how the paradigm of ticketing has continued to strengthen, even with secondary markets online. Twitter: @FredMaglione
C. Ryan Shelton has been able to successfully operate in both the world of minor league hockey and that of minor league baseball. Shelton talks about his experiences in developing great fan experiences, understand the nuances of customer service, and how he continues to trust with season ticket holders. Shelton expands on the idea of sports sales, talking about his 1-on-1 prospect engagement strategy at the ballpark with a high success ratio. Twitter: @CRyanShelton
Shon Spevak has spent most of his adult life in Cedar City, Utah. A graduate of his hometown university, Spevak talks about his role with SUU as it has grown up in the last nine years over his tenure from a department with a sole conference home to finally being a member of the Big Sky Conference for all of its sports. Spevak discusses the challenges of being in a remote location, continuing to foster growth in his career development in athletics, as well as helping broaden his mentorship skills with student workers. Twitter: @ShonSpevak
Dynamic pricing’s history in English football began with the Derby County Football Club. As ticket office manager for three years during that period, Edward Liddiard saw first-hand the effect of variable pricing on the marketplace and with fans. Liddiard talks about the positive and negative ways in which dynamic pricing changed, as well as how the practice had to adapt to the UK employment system in a working class community such as Derby. Liddiard explains his role in developing and administrating the pricing playbook, which allows football clubs to see what other clubs are charging in order to price their product accordingly. Twitter: @ELiddiard25
Working in sports means learning how sell and being mobile, Jamie Morningstar has done both during her tenure in the NBA. Morningstar talks about her first jobs in sports, including working for the Seattle Super Sonics and the decision to move with the team to Oklahoma City, as well as her time at Madison Square Garden with the New York Knicks and now with the Milwaukee Bucks. Morningstar expands into selling the experience as well as the relationship between a client and team, in terms of retention, even when team performance is down. Morningstar discusses how she managed to study and pass the bar exam after law school while performing inside sales with the Detroit Pistons, as well as her thoughts on the overall expectations of working in the industry. Twitter: @jmelyn30
Being continually sold out of ticket inventory is that “good problem to have” for any franchise, but Joe Cote explains how it can cause some consternation for his fanbase, especially when the perception of being sold out causes patrons to buy off of the secondary market when there are tickets available on the primary market. Cote talks about how the Timbers have embraced the Portland marketplace, establishing a special relationship through a different branding campaign which didn’t use some of the traditional “call to action” methodology and instead focused on showing the Timbers’ fanbase. Cote discusses how he got into the sports business, as well as how the title of vice president means little when it comes to a difference in his performance prior to earning the title.
Breaking into college sports means being an intern or graduate assistant starting out. Christopher Kaufman is the coordinator of ticket operations and sales at the University of South Dakota Athletic Department, and talks about the challenges he faced getting into the field, as well as the positive outlook he brings each day to his job at USD. Kaufman discusses the challenges that USD faces in broadening its audience with a small state and area population, as well as how they are building their program for long-term success.
Controlling the secondary market for an NBA team is a new concept that Portland Trail Blazers VP of Ticket Sales Tyler Howell has been working on. Howell talks about working with ticket brokers in order to keep the secondary market from being flooded, thus dropping the value of the ticket. Howell discusses his thoughts on dynamic pricing, building demand, and how the Portland Timbers MLS team has helped, not hurt, establish a true market value for the ticket prices in the marketplace.
In the early 1990s, Rob Cornilles helped revolutionize sales training principles for sports franchises by founding Game Face, Inc. and then changed over the model again by creating an academy structure to train young college students into ticket sales reps, in his Portland facility, as well as helped place them with professional teams throughout the nation. Game Face was then expanded into an executive search model that helped broaden the careers of sports sales executives. Cornilles talks about founding the Game Face model, how word of mouth advertising grew his business into a powerhouse within a few short years, and his two unsuccessful runs for U.S. Congress in Oregon’s 1st District in 2010 and 2012. Cornilles presents his revenue philosophies on where the sports industry was when he started, where it is now, and what really needs to improve in the future. E-mail: ryc@gamefaceinc.com