23 Things We Learned This Year!Some End of Year Reading. Some End of Year Notes.
Hey!
Happy New Year!
I’m up doing some reading this morning, clearing out a bunch of links, tabs, and bookmarks.
Some of these may interest you, but first: 23 things we learned this year:
Despite knowing that listening to the customer is the most important thing, people still don’t do it nearly enough: 39% of you told me that you need to listen to your customers more. That was your biggest challenge, but listening to the customers still never rose to the height of better do it.
Brokers will always find a way to get tickets: Martin Haigh took me on a tour of paths around some of our best laid plans. Just look at the workaround for the Cure’s tour.
We also learned that we need to ask whether or not the secondary market is a good or bad thing for our business: It is always a question of what works best for you.
Accessibility is good for business: Caspian Turner taught me all about building a better online experience and how that can lead to sales and new guests.
“One Size Fits None” is no way to do business: Drew McManus taught me that the challenges of “one size fits all” thinking aren’t just in sports, Broadway, or wherever…they are everywhere.
We learned that INTIX is an answer for burnout for some folks like Christy Grantham: We also found out from Casey Thomas that my maroon jacket and fresh Jordans make me a snazzy dresser.
Peace of mind drives purchase of refund protection: 48% of guests at the Playhouse Theatre buy refund protection. What’s that tell you?
Regulation of tickets is maybe on the agenda: But as Eric Fuller taught us it is “Shoot First, Aim Later”. I’d also tell you to check out Tim Wu’s book on bigness. It is about 135 pages and will take you an hour or so to read, but it will bust a lot of the tech myths that are floating around right now because they were the same ones used back in the days of the trusts in the early 20th century. Spoiler: bad UX isn’t due to bad design decisions. It is due to lack of competition and regulation.
LIV wasn’t making any money: The thing is that the drama around LIV and the PGA Tour shows no sign of ending.
Everyone not in tickets wants ticket buying to be easier: The BBC has ideas too! California thinks it is exclusive contracts.
The RSN implosion was a year-long tale that shows no signs of letting up: The numbers on streaming just don’t add up.
MLS signs new partnerships, but digging into the numbers tells a nuanced story: This was before Messi came to Miami, but the numbers might look good at the top…but underneath they leave a few questions.
The Suns and Jazz going to over the air TV is just good brand management: This is just the way that big numbers and broadcast TV really work. The goose of the cable bundle isn’t dead yet, but the numbers for sports are changing.
Everywhere I go, people ask me about my Spurs jacket: The Premier League can and continues to feel like a domestic league. There are a number of reasons for that.
Pricing better continues to be an issue: Your buyers have to know you are there and they have to think going to see your event is worth it. You have to manage those two things.
B2B ticket sales and the premium market needs attention: A long running theme is that you need to look at everything, not just revenue, and not just how well you are doing today. Buyers are changing their view on what is necessary and before you realize it, your renewals can be in the tank.
We learned about innovation in tickets and that it isn’t just technology: I really would have gone to the Wilco festival in Mexico, but December was a busy month for me. What about earlier start times?
The A’s may move to Las Vegas, but the numbers don’t look as rosy as everyone is making them out to be: Don’t believe my numbers on any of this, but do the math yourself. When you do, you see how rosy some of these projections are. I’m not saying folks can’t hit these numbers, but I’m saying that to hit them they’d have to be the best marketers and sellers in the world…in any industry, at any time.
I’ve learned from a lot of people: My reading list is pretty deep and I try to spend a bit of time learning everyday. Here’s a list of folks that taught me stuff this year.
ABBA are great brand managers: KISS, The Rolling Stones, and Taylor Swift ain’t bad either. Beyonce, makes some questionable decisions, but Jay-Z is always on point.
The arts business model might be “broken”: That actually might have been the major theme of the year that a lot of business models aren’t fit for purpose any longer.
Bruce Springsteen caught heat for his pricing plan, but he taught us a lot: There were a lot of below face value tickets available. I went in Baltimore and paid uner $100 for a premium ticket…super premium even. It was great…my second favorite show of the year. Lots of pricing lessons this year.
Betting is here to stay: My concern is that it becomes a crutch and eventually that crutch goes away…and what is left is a mess.
My favorite show of the year:
LCD Soundsystem at Brooklyn Steel:
I got really into them when I was laid up in 2022. It is happy dance music.
Will I be at the show tonight in San Fran?
Who knows?!
Here are some things I’ve been reading this week to clear out my inbox.
There are good things and bad things to cost-plus pricing.
I dislike the practice because it is often used as a lazy substitute for setting a better price, but this primer is a good one.
You also get a few notes on pricing beer which is where I learned a lot about pricing as a young marketer.
I put together a list of 107 people I’ve learned from this year:
The new list begins on Monday!
Ha!
Check out the list and follow someone new.
The NBA’s TV ratings on Christmas Day are down:
The interesting thing here is the numbers: 1.3M people watch a prime-time NBA game.
That’s not a lot of people.
Big Brother draws better than that. Reruns of Law and Order.
The NFL draws big numbers, everything else makes you ask why the TV networks are spending such huge sums on sports because the numbers don’t necessarily seem to justify the investment.
Your Kid Watches Content on YouTube Even With All the Streamers?
Yes.
I’ve seen this in action.
The boy wants to watch gamer videos of Madden drafts and such…
Who knew?
Great marketing lecture from Giles Edwards:
This is for Tom Elmer’s marketing class…
So many good bits in here.
Eben Novy-Williams looks at the money behind sports:
One area he doesn’t hit on with regard to the TV money is that the streamers have a history of paying high at the start and as they squeeze out the competition they start cutting the legs out from under their content creators and talent.
But…history would never repeat itself, right?
Hal Singer points out a few uncomfortable truths on pricing and “competitive” markets:
All of these points are worth considering when you encounter pricing for your customers and the costs of putting on events.
Join me on Wednesday to kickstart 2024 at 1 PM Eastern.
Happy New Year!
Thanks for being here this year!
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What are you hoping to achieve in 2024?
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