azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Fans embracing online sales; almost 40% sold on team's site
Craig Harris
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 2004 12:00 AM
David Chacon's days of waiting in line at the box office for Phoenix Suns tickets are over.
He's not alone.
The 29-year-old Phoenix man has joined a growing number of Suns fans who are buying National Basketball Association tickets online through the team's Web site.
"It's a lot easier doing it this way. I don't have to worry if they (tickets) are legitimate, and I know exactly where the seats are located," said Chacon, who works for Bank of America. "I will not purchase tickets again from the ticket booth."
This season, the Suns are selling nearly 40 percent of their single-game tickets online through Ticketmaster. Five years ago, the Suns sold less than 5 percent of their tickets online. Combined with sales by telephone, the trend means that a shrinking number of fans, 40 percent to 45 percent, are driving to a location to buy tickets over the counter.
The online ticket buying is an extension of what's already happening in other industries such as hotels and airlines. As high-speed Internet spreads and more people become comfortable and familiar with online purchasing, the variety of services they buy on the Web is growing.
Unlike airlines and hotels, however, sports teams, as well as concerts and other events in their arenas, don't entice buyers with Web-only discounts.
The Suns believe that they are providing a convenience for fans and that over time the additional online sales at suns.com will produce more fans at America West Arena.
"It's just flat out better for the consumer," said Rick Welts, Suns president.
The Suns on average sell about 2,700 single-game tickets, while an additional 2,000 tickets are sold to groups per game. There are roughly 11,000 season ticket holders, and the team provides some complimentary tickets to its players, the NBA and opposing teams.
When fans buy Suns tickets online, they can print them at home and take them to the arena, where the ticket's electronic bar code is scanned by ushers. The Suns also provide their season ticket holders the ability to e-mail their tickets to others, who then can print them and bring them to the arena. When the tickets are e-mailed to someone else, a new electronic bar code is created, and only the latest bar code can be used at the game, thus preventing mass printing and fraud.
The Suns' Web site also provides a 3-D model that allows fans to see what the court will look like from their seat; the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Coyotes provide a similar technology on their Web sites. All the Valley's major sports teams, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, sell tickets from their Web sites.
Despite all the technological improvements and the best record in the NBA, the Suns head into tonight's home game against Memphis drawing an average of 16,369 fans, which is less than 1 percentage point more than last year's average (16,310) through 13 home games.
The Suns are playing at 89 percent of capacity in the 18,422-seat arena, and most of the empty chairs are in the upper level, where ticket prices range from $12.50 to $50, which includes a $2.50-per-ticket facility renovation fee.
All the courtside seats, which range from $250 to $550 per game, are sold out, in addition to the 32 loge boxes, which cost $22,000 per season.
"People are willing to pay to get a great location, and because we have had a great location in the lower level, those are selling first," said John Walker, the team's vice president of business development.
Although the Suns have not seen an immediate jump in attendance, Welts believes the average attendance will increase to 17,000 by the end of the season based upon online purchases for future games and the team's success.
The team, through its customer relationship-management program, also has been aggressive in pushing fans to its Web site to buy tickets.
The program has a database of 300,000 customers who have bought tickets for sports and entertainment events at America West Arena and the Dodge Theatre, which the Suns manage through a related company. The database was compiled over the past three years.
The Suns do not sell the information to other businesses, but the team uses the data to target certain demographic areas in the Valley where it will focus its ticket sales.
The database creates a portfolio of each buyer, and the Suns will electronically notify buyers of upcoming events at the downtown Phoenix venues.
Scott O'Neil, senior vice president of marketing for the NBA, said Phoenix is one of the leaders in the league when it comes to using technology.
"The Suns are a terrific story," O'Neil said. "They have clearly adopted this technology and found a real business there."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1223onlinetickets23.html
Craig Harris
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 23, 2004 12:00 AM
David Chacon's days of waiting in line at the box office for Phoenix Suns tickets are over.
He's not alone.
The 29-year-old Phoenix man has joined a growing number of Suns fans who are buying National Basketball Association tickets online through the team's Web site.
"It's a lot easier doing it this way. I don't have to worry if they (tickets) are legitimate, and I know exactly where the seats are located," said Chacon, who works for Bank of America. "I will not purchase tickets again from the ticket booth."
This season, the Suns are selling nearly 40 percent of their single-game tickets online through Ticketmaster. Five years ago, the Suns sold less than 5 percent of their tickets online. Combined with sales by telephone, the trend means that a shrinking number of fans, 40 percent to 45 percent, are driving to a location to buy tickets over the counter.
The online ticket buying is an extension of what's already happening in other industries such as hotels and airlines. As high-speed Internet spreads and more people become comfortable and familiar with online purchasing, the variety of services they buy on the Web is growing.
Unlike airlines and hotels, however, sports teams, as well as concerts and other events in their arenas, don't entice buyers with Web-only discounts.
The Suns believe that they are providing a convenience for fans and that over time the additional online sales at suns.com will produce more fans at America West Arena.
"It's just flat out better for the consumer," said Rick Welts, Suns president.
The Suns on average sell about 2,700 single-game tickets, while an additional 2,000 tickets are sold to groups per game. There are roughly 11,000 season ticket holders, and the team provides some complimentary tickets to its players, the NBA and opposing teams.
When fans buy Suns tickets online, they can print them at home and take them to the arena, where the ticket's electronic bar code is scanned by ushers. The Suns also provide their season ticket holders the ability to e-mail their tickets to others, who then can print them and bring them to the arena. When the tickets are e-mailed to someone else, a new electronic bar code is created, and only the latest bar code can be used at the game, thus preventing mass printing and fraud.
The Suns' Web site also provides a 3-D model that allows fans to see what the court will look like from their seat; the Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Coyotes provide a similar technology on their Web sites. All the Valley's major sports teams, including the Arizona Diamondbacks, sell tickets from their Web sites.
Despite all the technological improvements and the best record in the NBA, the Suns head into tonight's home game against Memphis drawing an average of 16,369 fans, which is less than 1 percentage point more than last year's average (16,310) through 13 home games.
The Suns are playing at 89 percent of capacity in the 18,422-seat arena, and most of the empty chairs are in the upper level, where ticket prices range from $12.50 to $50, which includes a $2.50-per-ticket facility renovation fee.
All the courtside seats, which range from $250 to $550 per game, are sold out, in addition to the 32 loge boxes, which cost $22,000 per season.
"People are willing to pay to get a great location, and because we have had a great location in the lower level, those are selling first," said John Walker, the team's vice president of business development.
Although the Suns have not seen an immediate jump in attendance, Welts believes the average attendance will increase to 17,000 by the end of the season based upon online purchases for future games and the team's success.
The team, through its customer relationship-management program, also has been aggressive in pushing fans to its Web site to buy tickets.
The program has a database of 300,000 customers who have bought tickets for sports and entertainment events at America West Arena and the Dodge Theatre, which the Suns manage through a related company. The database was compiled over the past three years.
The Suns do not sell the information to other businesses, but the team uses the data to target certain demographic areas in the Valley where it will focus its ticket sales.
The database creates a portfolio of each buyer, and the Suns will electronically notify buyers of upcoming events at the downtown Phoenix venues.
Scott O'Neil, senior vice president of marketing for the NBA, said Phoenix is one of the leaders in the league when it comes to using technology.
"The Suns are a terrific story," O'Neil said. "They have clearly adopted this technology and found a real business there."
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1223onlinetickets23.html
