Heading into the 2021 season, the Atlanta Falcons reimagined their STM (Season Ticket Member) benefits by providing enhanced membership options for their members to take advantage of. The Falcons created four tiers based on spend: Founders, Premium, Select, Reserve. Primary focus of the tier was to differentiate experiences between those looking for the best price versus those expecting added value.

First, the team invested in customized merchandise for STMs where Founders, Premium and Select accounts received one item per seat on account while Reserve account only received one item per account. Additionally, Founders, Premium and Select accounts were able to exchange tickets for any game during the season, up to 4 different games. Third, Club Seat Accounts were able to return tickets to any games not attending (up to 60 days before a game) and receive account credit for 2022. This helped avoid dumping tickets on the secondary market. Last, Club Seat account were able to request equal amount of complimentary tickets for any Falcons road game as they have season tickets (max of 4).

The data analysis had shown strong correlation between ticket usage and ticket renewal rates. It indicated that Season Ticket Members were more likely to churn if they didn’t get to fully utilize their tickets. The analysis also showed that many members would end up dumping their tickets significantly under the market value to sell in short period. Fans were looking for more flexibilities to help address unpredictable situations that’s bound to happen.

As a result, the Atlanta Falcons have seen their strongest renewal rate since moving to Mercedes Benz stadium in 2017. 82% of accounts participated in free exclusive member merchandise and over 250 unique accounts participated in swapping 976 tickets which also generated $30K in incremental revenues from individuals swapping to more expensive tickets. Also, 279 unique accounts sold back 1,742 tickets for a credit towards 2022 season tickets.

©Atlanta Falcons

The Member Inclusive Menu (MIM) benefit is included as a part of all 49ers Season Ticket Memberships. The Member Inclusive Menu program includes core food & nonalcoholic beverage items at no additional cost. Items include soda, water, hot dogs, popcorn, candy, pizza, etc. The original season ticket holders and tickets transferred from original season ticket holders are eligible for the Member Inclusive Menu.

Season ticket members (or MIM eligible ticket holders) are limited to 4 Member Inclusive Menu items per transaction. If any non MIM items (i.e. Beer & Specialty item) are included in an order, they are eligible for a 15% discount on the specialty items (but no alcohol is discounted). United, Yahoo, Levi’s 501, and Foxconn Club tickets all have Member Inclusive Menu benefits, regardless of ticket status(single game, resold, etc).

Enhancing Season Ticket Holder value has been one of the 49ers top two priorities over the past two years based off hundreds of thousands of surveys, focus groups and their business intelligence analysis. They want to improve food and beverage experience, and further increase SBL value.

The 49ers made in season adjustments to ordering, queuing, menu optimization, line busting, kiosk interface changes, app improvements, staffing, training, and communications. The 49ers also tested their steamers, fryers, and ovens for cooking capabilities to identify stands that needed additional equipment. They upgraded their stand production by installing the equipment that was needed to improve their cooking capabilities.

The 49ers conducted a Conjoint Survey where respondents weighed the benefits of different membership attributes before selecting their preferred options. The conjoint analysis suggested that GA fans prefer all-inclusive over a la carte service, but Club fans preferred all-inclusive service only if it included premium food options. The Niners then looked at their pricing map and resale patterns from 2014~2018 and evaluated the patterns against the Conjoint Analysis. The New Pricing Map formed from that evaluation.

©San Francisco 49ers

The Colts and Indiana University partnered together to develop a credit-based curriculum that provides hands on experience at Colts home games and access to Colts top executives to learn about gameday operations.

In 2021, Colts were faced with game day staffing challenges including finding staff that would work consistently throughout the season. Addition to increase in cost of game day staffing, the quality of ingress/egress experience was being impacted negatively due to lack of consistence in staffing and their experience

There were 50 students enrolled in the Colts Game Day Ticketing program that were responsible for assisting fans with questions or problems that may occur during Colts game days, mobile ticket training and managing the gates, assisting in Group Experience execution and management, as well as working with the Ticket Sales and Service team to facilitate all in game events. The students were expected to attend all home games.

The Game Day Ticketing program allowed the Colts to tap into sports management students at Indiana University for most of the season and those who are passionate about learning and working in sports. In addition, the Colts helped develop future sports leaders in their community.

The Colts have received a lot of positive feedback from both the students and fans. Many fans indicated that the staffs were much friendlier and they were very helpful in navigating the mobile ticketing.

The Colts secured 50 game day staffers at no cost for ticket scanning that allowed the stadium to reassign 50 staffers to other areas of the stadium. They saw a 60% reduction in scanning errors and/or no scan ticket numbers from gates that were managed by IU students. In addition, the Colts ranked 3rd highest in stadium ingress/egress experience satisfaction among 32 NFL clubs.

With a young team on the rise with marketable star players, the Utah Jazz are looking to capitalize on their recent success on the court to drive new fans into the arena. The Utah Jazz ownership group not only own the team and it’s NBA G League affiliate, but they also own and operate Vivint Smart Home Arena as well as the Salt Lake Bees, a local minor league baseball team. This provided the Jazz with a unique opportunity to sell across all their properties.

Partnering with a technology company called Season Share, the team was able to create the “Utah Jazz Fan Pass” which allows fans to select up to 5 different arena events (including concerts and shows) to attend per month for only $65/month.

Once fans purchase a Utah Jazz Fan Pass, they will be notified via text message 48 hours prior to an available event for them to attend. If a fan wants to attend, they simply follow the link in the text message to claim their tickets. From there, fans will be able to access their tickets through the Jazz App.

In terms of marketing support, the Jazz are leveraging social media and working with local universities to create ambassadors on campus.

©Utah Jazz