Tickets to sports games and concerts can be an exciting perk for your employees, clients, and corporate partners — but did you know 47% of those tickets go unused?
This statistic may sound shocking… until you learn how poorly corporate tickets are typically managed.
How Corporate Tickets Are (Badly) Managed
Companies often buy event tickets as part of employee or client relation strategies, or get them when buying ad space at high-attendance events.
The person purchasing or receiving those event tickets — usually a C-suite executive — is typically not the same person managing their use. That duty often falls on a human resources or marketing manager.
In this transfer, the company’s goal often gets lost. A lack of communication about how to assign tickets, or to whom, can mean those tickets never get used. The employees responsible for assigning tickets may also lack an understanding of the financial repercussions of unused tickets, or even how to track if assigned tickets get used.
Plus, when clear goals aren’t established for purchased tickets, it can cause a free-for-all. For example, if a company buys season tickets for a local team, employees may vie for playoff tickets, while Tuesday-night game tickets go unused. Those high-value tickets may have been intended for important clients with whom the company wants to strengthen its relationship — a goal that was never communicated to the ticket manager.
Similarly, if tickets are purchased as part of a marketing or sponsorship package, or come with a vending agreement, it might be unclear who unused tickets should be offered to, or how. As a result, the staff responsible for allocating tickets might throw in the towel because they simply don’t have the information they need.
While it’s unrealistic to aim for 100% ticket usage, most tickets purchased by your company should be used. Not doing so costs companies in multiple ways, resulting in little to no return on investment (ROI).
Unused Tickets Lead to Missed Opportunities
Unused event tickets represent all kinds of missed opportunities. The following are some of the most common ways companies miss the boat when they let event tickets go unused.
- Business development. Event tickets are a great way to prospect for clients and partners. When tickets are used adequately, potential clients can enjoy themselves in a low-pressure environment alongside company representatives who can use the time to highlight the benefits of working together. The potential partner may not remember exactly what was said, but they’ll remember they had a great time, and they’ll remember they had it with you — which may motivate them to sign that contract.If your company is buying event tickets and not using them to prospect, you’re burning revenue.
- Relationship building. Conversely, event tickets are a great way to maintain positive relationships with existing vendors, partners, and clients. Shared experiences like sporting events and concerts can ensure a continued working relationship that’s based not only on business interests, but also on positive personal relationships.At the end of the day, people want to do business with people they like, and unused event tickets are a missed opportunity to strengthen those relationships.
- Employee motivation and retention. Your employees are your company’s greatest asset. Event tickets are a great way to show your appreciation for high-performing employees, as well as motivate staff members to hit key performance indicators. Unused tickets are a missed opportunity to motivate and retain your workforce.
Unused Tickets Hurt the Bottom Line
Corporate tickets are an investment. If companies don’t see a return on that investment, their bottom line suffers.
Even when they produce a ROI, corporate tickets are a pricy endeavor. For example, just six NFL season tickets cost a minimum of $25,000.
The business might deem that an acceptable tradeoff for meeting its goals. However, if the tickets go unused and the goals go unmet, the company is essentially flushing that $25,000 down the proverbial drain.
As outlined above, companies purchase tickets with specific goals in mind, and failure to meet those goals turns an investment into an expenditure. If a business doesn’t reap the benefits of its efforts, it’s simply wasting money.
This is especially important for smaller businesses that can’t afford to waste $2,500, let alone $25,000.
Ticketnology’s Mission
Given the high costs of unused corporate tickets, we believe 47% is an unacceptable statistic.
Ticketnology was founded to remedy this problem, and we’re well on our way. Our average client uses 83% of their tickets. We’re proud of that statistic, and we’re excited to improve.
It all relates back to our mission: to increase our clients’ ticket utilization year after year and ensure they see a strong ROI.