It will be a year this coming week, the last time was actually in an arena for a game. It was actually two in one day, the Capital City GoGo of the NBA GLeague in the afternoon, the Washington Capitals at night as part of a trip to Washington. I know becuase I still have the ticket stubs.
One of the touchstones that will be a victim of the Pandemic will probably be stubs. It was a trend that was starting to falter before last March, and the move to paperless, touchless ticketing will probably be pretty much complete as we return to play, and that frankly will be a shame, but it will also be in many ways a bit of an entreprenurial opportunity.
It reminded me of a previous post from a few years ago, as well as an SI.com article Steve Rushin did about the ticket stub dwindling, and Darren Rovell has been very bullish on the ticket stub market as a collectable as well
Two years ago, all I was doing was cleaning out my bag. That’s it. There I had collected ticket stubs from the last six or eight months from everything from Off Broadway shows to Minor League Baseball to Army Navy football to soccer to college basketball. A nice pile that I keep in a small book. Each gives a chance to pause and think, a nice memento for a high price spend sometimes.
However what was not in the mix were events that had gone digital only: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden; Network on Broadway; The Devils at The Prudential Center.
All were paper or mobile only, and they had been cast into the recycle bin or into the cloud not to really be remembered as much. I get it; there is a huge need by event organizers, buildings, teams to collect the data and the spending habits of those who are actually in the building. Do online, scan and it’s all there. No issue at all, and very smart. It is the best way to know who is in, and also who is not, and how tickets are being shared and consumed. Makes great sense. Mobile first also makes sense for those worrying about the environment, which we all should. No thousands of pieces of paper being throw away or printed, saving a great deal of money. Then there is the cost of hard tickets; their design, their security and their waste sometimes; that also evaporates. Also how about the cost of mailing tickets? All of that is saved by the event, team or arena.
Fast, easily transferable, more secure and a great data capture. All makes great sense.
However the scope and breath of these last months of tickets had me thinking a bit about another marketplace; one which in the fandom maybe be getting marginalized by the move for efficiency and data. So I took a little picture of the ticket stubs and pretty innocently posted away on my social channels. I did not, especially on a holiday weekend, expect the response I got. It certainly wasn’t something I was really pushing in any way; no agenda at all.
Over 100,000 views and shares on twitter, over 100 comments on Facebook, several thousand views and likes on Linked In, and some interesting back and forth and emails from senior sports executives who seemed a bit lost as to why I would even care about ticket stubs.
However what was more interesting was the nostalgic and passionate comments and photos that folks who I didn’t even know had shared about these pieces of paper, which hold not just data, but memories. The comments also did not come just from the forty and older crowd you would expect; they came from teenagers and twentysomethings who asked about ticket stubs to collect from gaming events; from parents who had started scrapbooks for their kids only to find that paper printout had no value; and from media members who have used ticket stubs as ways to bookmark time, friendships and events.
One executive pointed out that a team may have tried printable kiosks but it wasn’t good business sense; another follower added that soccer clubs abroad will mail you a hard ticket as a memento if you write or email them (great idea!) and another said that it looked like the Final Four was moving towards mailing people hard tickets after the fact for a fee (another great idea!).
So here is the crux of the issue; in the rush for efficiency, maybe, just maybe, we are losing some of the personal touches that make up fandom. Sports, now maybe more than ever, remains a passion play as much as a business, and things like the request for a stub, or even a program or a scoresheet where you can have something in your hands to read or discuss with people around you during a live event, is something that we don’t have to lose all together. Do I need a ticket stub for every Fordham basketball game I suffer through? No. Would I like the option to have one? Yes. As sports becomes more global and events become more pricey; fans from around the world may only get one shot at going to a Madison Square Garden or a Met Life Stadium or a Staples Center or even a Broadway show, and they may, if they choose, want to save that memento to even share or be part of their narrative that enhances an experience ever so slightly. So why not give them the option, even post event?
Maybe there is a customer service desk after entering an arena, who can print a ticket on demand, or even hand over a hard ticket, not with a seat location, for only those who ask. You don’t need something high tech for that. Maybe there is a way to charge, a few dollars…new REVENUE STREAM…for those willing to receive a ticket in the mail after an event. It would be on demand only, so no extra printing thousands, just for those who want it. By the way, maybe, maybe that service is also sponsorable for even more revenue? Even better, since these are committed fans, maybe a note can go from the club to those fans thanking them for the extra effort to connect? There also remains an issue for many larger business entities, especially those in finance and banking, that need the hard stubs as transferable assets for clients. Pass alongs on the digital side can be very dicey.
There was also an inference by one team official that a request for a ticket stub is actually out of touch with sports business today; very old school. Well here is also a news flash; the American consumer, especially one with disposable income, is getting older, not younger, so maybe listening to that audience with something small like this, that increases the longer lasting tie to fandom in a tangible way, makes sense. Show and learn about digital ticketing, yes, but don’t forget to do the little things either.
Lastly, in the whole scheme of billions going into sports business, this is not something that is game changing. There are certainly bigger issues to deal with for the consumer enhancement experience. However sometimes we forget about doing the little things, and someone asking, and receiving, a hard piece of paper as a takeaway, is maybe a little thing that we shouldn’t lose in the effort to be fast and mobile.
I love innovation and disruption and learning; but let’s not lose little traditions along the way. Even simple ones like a stub. It becomes part of the storytelling experience, and storytelling is what leads to passion in sport; you can’t always do things with a swipe.
I’d say that’s just me, but from the numbers of people who took the time to join in, it seems like I’m not alone.
Onward!
