Investing in season tickets to a sports franchise, performing arts, or other events can be a viable part of your business development strategy. However, managing ticket distribution, tracking usage, avoiding misuse and calculating investment returns can be challenging. Unused tickets are a direct blow to your bottom line, as are misused tickets (for example, violating IRS compliance rules or being used by people who do not provide an adequate ROI). If you’re using Excel spreadsheets, emails or old-school signup sheets to monitor your season tickets, you may be missing opportunities for a better investment return. And, if you’re using a ticket management platform, does it fit your organization’s needs and budget?

Here are some factors to consider when evaluating a ticket management system!

Is your season ticket management process easy?

How seamless is your process? For example, when someone in your organization wants to take a client to a game, do they need to get approval first? If so, how long does that take? How do they acquire the tickets and distribute them to the client? If you have tickets you can’t use, what happens to them? An optimal ticket management process should allow you to approve requests quickly, distribute tickets and avoid wasting tickets.

How do you track season ticket usage?

Do you know who is using your season tickets? Can you see details at a glance, or is the information stored on someone else’s computer — or worse, jotted down on sticky notes somewhere? Is ticket usage compliant with IRS rules? IRS tax codes change frequently, and season tickets might not be deductible when used for entertaining clients or prospects. The last thing you want is to lose money on your investment or encounter problems simply because you lack insights into ticket usage! Your ticket management process should provide full and immediate transparency so you can track ticket usage.

What do you do with unneeded tickets?

Many organizations can’t use all their season tickets, so they go to waste. Empty seats in the stands are a negative for everyone — the players, other fans and your investment. An efficient ticket management system allows you to quickly resell tickets with minimal reseller fees, which automatically increases your investment returns. Your system should also provide a way to donate tickets to a charitable organization, which can result in tax benefits. Another option for unneeded tickets is to use them for employee recognition — reward your top performers or recruit top talent. Additionally, ticket costs are often deductible when used for team-building or company-wide celebrations.

Are you buying the appropriate number of tickets to the best events?

Another reason to monitor usage is to determine if you’re buying the correct number of tickets — and to events that best suit your organization. If you frequently end up with tickets you can’t use, you can save money by buying fewer tickets. On the flip side, could you entertain more clients/prospects, increase brand awareness, network with other business leaders and grow your business if you invested in more tickets?

Another factor to consider is your target audience’s interests. For example, if you’re buying NBA season tickets but most of your clients/prospects (or employees) prefer Major League Soccer games or performing arts events, it’s time to change things up. You don’t have to give up your favorite season tickets, but you could buy a smaller ticket package instead of an entire season and reallocate the savings to other events!

Are you able to track your investment returns?

Regardless of your organization’s business model, your bottom line matters, so you may lose money on your season ticket investment if you lack a sound monitoring process. If you’re already using a ticketing platform, is it cost-effective? An efficient ticket management system ensures that tickets aren’t wasted or misused, allows you to easily determine your investment return and is cost-effective. You can make adjustments as needed and increase your ROI.

Ticketnology’s Ticket Booth platform alleviates the season ticket management challenges!

Ticket Booth is an online platform that allows you to manage your season tickets seamlessly. You can quickly approve requests, allocate and distribute tickets nationwide, track usage, donate or sell unused tickets and access real-time reports on usage, compliance and ROI. Our reseller fees are typically less than other reseller services, and we have insider knowledge when you want to score tickets to coveted sporting, music and performing arts events. If your current process is cumbersome, ineffective or costly, Ticket Booth solves season ticket challenges!