How Has Ticket Management Changed in Today’s World

These unprecedented times have altered the live events and entertainment industry. As the ticketing industry works to move forward, we hosted a breakout session discussing how companies are navigating ticket usage. We gained valuable insight from our special guests and clients, who joined in to provide different perspectives from their organizations. We also discussed how ticket management has changed, and what we expect moving forward.

Changes in Ticket Management During COVID

There are two key changes that we have observed so far. Now that live entertainment is forever changed, we have noticed our customers are reevaluating their sponsorship agreements. For example, several clients are shifting to a “ticket bank” setup to allow their assets and spending to be more flexible. The second change is that sponsorship dollars have shifted towards theme park tickets as well as other activities that allow for a flexible, undated experience rather than sports and concerts.

One of our clients joined the discussion to say how COVID has affected their sponsorship agreements: “Moving forward we are being very conscious to what contracts we sign. Before, we lacked and glossed over those terms and conditions. Now, for suite leases for example, our financial people ask what the accommodation is and what is the risk? These questions weren’t asked a year ago.”

Ways that Ovations is Helping Clients During the Downtime

As an organization, we have used this time to complete an entire redesign of our user interface. This redesign brought a new, modern look and functionality for Ovations, including a mobile/tablet friendly user interface. In general, with less people accessing the system, there was less impact than there would have been if trying to make changes during a busy time pre-COVID.

We have also been adding more merchandise and theme park tickets to the system rather than concert and sports tickets. We have worked with some clients to incorporate new processes such as golf outings, which offer client entertainment while still practicing social distancing.

How Clients Handle Unused Tickets Due to COVID

Cendyn Ovations has seen clients look at unused tickets as just “nonexistent” because you can’t really report on something that couldn’t be used. These clients do not want to show or account for tickets to an event that did not take place. However, there are some clients who want to see the unused tickets captured for reporting and compliance/auditing purposes.

One client mentioned that game tickets had to be loaded into their ticket management platform, even if they were not going to be used. These tickets had a label designed to differentiate the tickets, so they will have a COVID label for the next audit and not have to be explained. What we see is that there is no right answer to handling the unused tickets, it just depends on how each organization wants to view those assets.

Important Factors Moving Forward

An important topic we discussed was how best to manage sponsorship and ticket assets in the new world. We have really urged our clients to use this time to evaluate their processes:

Is there a change that can be made to make things more efficient?

There will definitely be new language and terms surrounding COVID now. Are any configuration changes required?

Some clients shared their enthusiasm for 2021 planning and excitement about our integrations and new features moving into next year.

One client shared their opinion on the “new normal” saying that things are not going to be like they were a year ago and we will just have to adjust.

“It won’t be back 100%; it will be different. Open air events are easier to get back to, so there are hopes to resume major programs next year.”

From this session, the main takeaway is understanding that there is no correct answer in navigating ticket management during this time. Each organization is adjusting as the industry is changing and Cendyn Ovations is here to help make these transitions as seamless as possible. We can all agree that we are eager for live events again because there is so much value to in-person gatherings.