Mobile devices and eTickets are dramatically impacting the way in which baseball fans embrace their beloved sport.
The traditional ticket stub accounted for less than a third of single-game seats sold this past season, MarketWatch reports Tuesday. That’s down from 55% in 2011, “as fans continue to embrace digital tickets delivered by email or text message.”
That number should drop to less than 10% by next season with the help of apps like Apple’s new Passbook feature on the iPhone, they say, and in coming years paper tickets may be Cooperstown relics.
Based on the data made available, Apple’s new Passbook platform in iOS 6 has become an instant hit with fans. That’s according to Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advance Media.
Bowman tells MarketWatch that its test run with four teams for the final two weeks of the season resulted in 1,500 e-ticket buyers (12%) choosing Passbook delivery.
“That adoption rate really floored us – there is no question our fans want digital tickets,” Bowman said. “Fans can use the tickets, forward them to a friend, resell them, or even donate them to charity – and they never get lost or left at home.”
“If you know someone goes to the Brewers game every time the Cardinals are in town, they may be as much a Cardinals fan as a Brewers fan – and you want to send them different types of communications,” Bowman says. “Or, if you have a fan who always sits in the third tier, but goes to 20 home games – you can upgrade his ticket on the 21st game to right behind home plate.”
Have you embraced eTickets for sporting events? Please weigh in with a thought or comment below.
