Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) Newsletter: The Relaunch

Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) Newsletter: The Relaunch
by Kirk Wakefield – May 2017

S3 Newsletter

May marked the relaunch of the S3 Newsletter–and the next issue could be starring you! Sign-up here to receive each issue via email, as well as to share news, such as:

  1. Moving: From one sports/entertainment related position to another
  2. Shaking:
    1. Promotions,
    2. Awards, or
    3. Other stupendous feats of possible interest to readers.

In in this month’s newsletter we learned of:

S3 Track Rebranding & New Faculty

To better align the curriculum with the needs of the industry, Baylor S3 now offers three tracks:  Ticket Sales, Strategic Partnerships & Branded Content, and CRM & Analytics. After completing her Ph.D. at Rutgers, Dr. Tyrha M. Lindsey-Williams joins the faculty in the Department of Marketing this fall to teach advertising & digital marketing as part of the partnerships track.

S3 Club Record

The S3 Club includes all junior & senior majors and underclassmen interested in S3. With 138 active members, we surpassed the previous high membership set the year before by over 50%. Thank you board members and alumni for your support!

S3 Placement

Thanks to our partners for another great year placing S3 students in careers & internships. See who went where here.

Want to be involved next year? Register now for January 2018 Pro Day & Board Meetings!  We are currently accepting new supporting and leadership partners.

AT&T Challenge Winners

As part of Pro Sales II with Dr. Lehnus, juniors teamed with AT&T to create strategic partnership solutions for the Dallas Mavericks to reach fans in Mexico. This year’s winners of the competition were Diane Siri, Dodge Bludau, Courtney Ulrich and Ian Young.

Special thanks to our judges: Bill Mosely (AT&T), Eric Fernandez (SportsDesk Media), David Peart (Root Sports), Travis Dillon (The Marketing Arm), George Killebrew (Dallas Mavericks), and Jason Cook (Baylor University).

 S3 Bright Futures Awards

In partnership with BBVA Compass Bank, S3 honors the female and male outstanding seniors with the #BrightFutures Award at the Senior Banquet. This year’s winners are Erika Moulder (SSE) and  Grant McLaughlin. Thanks to our guest speakers Sheiludis Moyett and Tuck Ross from BBVA Compass!  #LiveBright!

The Bright Futures Award goes to the male and female seniors who best exemplify the S3 values of WINS: Work ethic + Integrity + Networking + Spirit. Winners are honored at spring events, awarded plaques, and receive $1000 toward attending the Daniel Summit after completing one year in their careers in the business of sports.

 S3 Movers

  • Mitch Mann (2009) – Associate Athletic Director, Baylor Athletics
  • Tommy Wright (2011) – Marketing Sponsorship & Partnership Manager, Houston Space Center
  • Travis Gafford (2011) – Inside Sales Manager, Spurs Sports & Entertainment
  • Alex Karp (2012) – Senior Business System Analyst, Utah Jazz
  • Twila Mulflur (2015) – Client Support Coordinator, Stone Timber River
  • Hayley Di Naso (2015) – Hospitality Sales, San Francisco 49ers
  • Anthony Potts (2015) – BI Manager, Houston Dynamo

 S3 Shakers

  • Austin Flagg (2010) – Senior Manager, Business Development, PGA Tour
  • Blake Pallansch (2015) – Premium Account Executive, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Austin Dinnes (2015) – Premium Account Executive, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Nick Buckley (2016) – Account Executive, Membership Sales, Houston Rockets

Next month we will feature the Movers & Shakers of S3 Board Members–so share your news here! 

Special thanks to our premiere Leadership Partners, StubHub (Geoff Lester), Phillips 66 (Tami Walker) and Eventellect (Patrick Ryan)!

StubHub Ticket Insights: Changes in Who, How & When People Buy

StubHub Ticket Insights: Changes in Who, How & When People Buy
by Kirk Wakefield – May 2017

In a league of its own

StubHub sells a ticket at least once every second. Over 21 million unique highly qualified buyers visit StubHub every month. Last year (2016), StubHub sold over $4.2 billion in tickets. That total essentially places StubHub in a league by itself, comparable to the NBA or Premiere League and more than the total revenues of the NHL, Bundesliga or La Liga.

Thanks to our S3 partnership with StubHub and Geoff Lester, our friends Charlie Rockman and Nick Rudolf presented breaking insights at our annual S3 Board Meeting in January, 2017.

In this article we present three of these insights related to demographics, search habits and mobile use in ticket purchase. Next month we will follow with insights on geo-targeting, conversion to ticket plan buyers, and inventory management given the timing of purchase behavior.

Demographics of online ticket buyers

Knowing half the females in the DFW metroplex are Dallas Cowboys fans, the Cowboys launched www.5pointsblue.com to offer content written by female staff members. The content appeals to the female fan base, but a broader audience as well, generating 350,000+ monthly visits. Other properties would do well to emulate the initiative to serve its entire fan base in a way that meets needs and preferences.

As seen below, we see a slight shift in females buying online (43%), but more importantly the Average Order Value (AOV) increased among first time female buyers versus first time male buyers. As millennials overtook baby boomers as the largest generation this past year, so has the percentage of younger buyers. These young buyers may see concerts and other events as viable entertainment options to sports. Commensurately, we see more lower-income first-time buyers–who will be tomorrow’s potential season ticket holders. The question is: How are teams serving the buying needs of this younger segment that will translate into future ticket buying fans?

 

Ticket Search: Event, Team or Date?

Knowing how people search is one of the keys to successful Google AdWords campaigns. Which of these is most likely to show up in a relevant search?

  • Event (Cavs vs. Rockets)
  • Team (e.g., Cleveland Cavaliers) or artist (Justin Timberlake)
  • Date (Friday, December 1, 2017)

We might think new buyers typically want to see a specific event on a certain date. We would be wrong. Instead, buyers increasingly and foremost search for the team or artist, rather than having a specific event or date in mind. Furthermore, last minute purchases (33%) and on-the-go (not at home/office) are the major reasons for purchasing via mobile. So, if we want to reach people where they are–with phones in hand–we best be mobile and search-engine optimized for quick access.

 

Mobile First Strategy

In 2014, 41% of traffic and 20% of sales came via mobile for StubHub. Just two years later, 60% of traffic and 42% of sales came via mobile. In general, revenue from 2015 to 2016 is increasing via online purchases, but disproportionately via mobile in terms of tickets sold (+25%) and total sales (+44%) compared to tickets sold via desktop (-3%) and total sales (+10%). (See graphic at the top of this article.)

Expect the trend toward mobile to continue. In the past the majority of time spent on mobile was searching, but most purchases of goods and services were made on desktops. But, as StubHub and others with native apps improve the mobile experience, more will shift to mobile purchases.  As seen below, the majority of purchases are still on desktops, but more bought via mobile devices and native apps in 2016 than 2015. The most mobile-friendly buyers are football (NCAA & NFL) fans, but the growth in mobile purchases will extend across leagues.

 

Conclusion

In short, the takeaway insights are:

  1. Target females the way they consume content and make purchases.
  2. Manage search engine campaigns aimed at team/artist searches, more so than event or date.
  3. Optimize for mobile ticket purchases. If your mobile sales are not growing at the same rate as the market, you are not mobile optimized.

When do people buy? And what happens to average ticket price over time? We know over one-third now wait until the last 72 hours to purchase. To learn more, come back for next month’s release.