Selling Entire Ticketmaster Accounts is the 'Cure'!?
181: Talking Tickets 31 March 2023: What a pun?
Hi!
I’m on holiday this week.
Enjoy!
To the Tickets!
I. Vice looks at the secondary market’s workaround for Cure tickets:
Whoa boy:
Can we give the secondary market the job of solving world peace or something more important than beating Ticketmaster?
What is going on here?
Go to Vegas, Hollywood, or Nashville…you’ll find that the secondary market is going to find a way to innovate. You may not like it, but you have to appreciate the ingenuity.
Why Does This Matter?
Any solution to the challenges of the ticket market will only be as strong as the weakest link in the chain.
One More Thing:
Who is in the SOS groups sending screenshots to reporters?
II. Revisiting Australia:
Oli Shawyer is the man!
Why This Again?
On my notecard, I’ve got an update of the “Fans for Life” workshop that I’m putting together.
So reading what Oli took away from my trip to Melbourne was helpful to make sure that I put together the best possible remix of the workshop.
What Will We Need to Know Now?
Change is the only constant: Truer than ever.
You are not your customer: Exactly.
Sell the experience, the value. Don’t focus on the things outside of your control: The value is likely different than it was before. So go back to the market and figure out what they are buying.
Fans are always moving: absolutely. This is even more the case now.
Building More: A refreshed 2023 version of the “Fans for Life” workshop should include:
Focusing on “light buyers”: The light and non-buyers are the biggest part of your market, but they have to be doing something…do you know what?
Decline of the STH: Are brokers your only buyers?
Sustaining brand equity: What does your brand stand for when your customer thinks about you?
Value: Why are people buying?
Alternatives: There are hundreds of ways to spend your time/money/attention…why should I pick you?
Need to Know:
I’ll plan on doing this in various formats.
Live, in-person.
Virtual.
On Demand.
III. San Antonio’s Symphony is America and tickets in a nutshell:
There is no straight line to long-term success and sustainability.
What’s Going On?
San Antonio’s Symphony is fighting to recover from COVID.
San Antonio used to be the home of classical music in Texas in the 40s and 50s.
Why Does This Matter?
If the Symphony dies, it would be the largest city in America without a symphony.
There are racist undertones to the argument that San Antonio can’t support an orchestra. (Mexico City has 5.)
Unions play a big role in the performing arts and they are fighting for a “living wage”.
Can You Save a Symphony?
Like Drew McManus says in the piece, board governance is key. That’s hard to do. Most nonprofit boards don’t meet the needs of their organizations.
Yes. The city is big enough. But the organization will need to revisit the role it plays in the community. This is laid out with the importance of arts education to the community.
IV. The Cleveland Guardians have a SRO subscription:
Talking to family and friends in the Cleveland area, the Guardians brand is struggling.
What’s Happening? Cheap tickets sales are better than no ticket sales?
Price is a terrible driver of demand.
Why Does This Matter?
The Guardians aren’t drawing fans to the ballpark. Coming in at just over 15,000 last year.
Larger Context:
Combining the attendance challenges and the low price option, this feels like a situation where doing a deep dive in the market would be useful.
One More Thing: The Rays go even further.
V. Links:
Canadians don’t like the way Platinum Seats are sold:
The Canadians have a point. If everything is premium, nothing is premium.
Neil Young says tours aren’t fun anymore:
Neil is great, but $3000 is a bit much.
Smug sports fans ruin it for everyone else:
“Real fans” or “legacy fans” or whatever…
This isn’t a sport specific issue, actually.
I see it in the opera, theatre, orchestras, and other art forms.
There’s that one group or that one person that is “pure”…MAN.
As folks think about getting people back to the games, events, and shows, you need to spend time thinking about the environment that they are entering.
Can you or do you want people to feel like they belong?
Number 88 is interesting.
Linktree: Find everything I’m up to.
Join the ‘Talking Tickets’ Slack Group. Almost 300 people from around the world. Daily jokes, ideas, and news.
Subscribe! Rate! Review! The podcast.