Chris Brewer is Head of Ticketing & Systems at Peterborough United and has had a long association with the club. In his words, “I have been with the football club since October 2000 (nearly 23 years). Personally, I want to help make a difference at the club and try to make life easier for the fans and for the staff behind the scenes. The more efficient we can be, the better output we can give, and using new technologies can certainly help us achieve that.”
One of those new technologies Peterborough has embraced is e-tickets, something they have been working on for nearly a decade. “We first launched e-tickets back in December 2014, and every year more and more people have used them. For the past few seasons, fans have also been able to add their tickets to their mobile wallets, and again we have seen an increase in the usage over time.” Chris told us.
While some people may suggest that the advent of new technology may cause issues for the more seasoned supporters of the club, Chris is keen to clarify that this is not the case. The real challenges lie with other clubs who haven’t taken the opportunities that e-ticket technology offer “I’ve been surprised how well some of the older supporters have taken to the digital world of ticketing – we have many over 80s using digital wallets, which just shows you, anyone can use it if they wanted to. The fans have responded very well to e-tickets and digital tickets, so much so, we have many requests for e-tickets for away games when we only have physical tickets from the opposition club.” Chris told us.
One of the tools that those clubs miss out on through physical tickets is a lack of data collection. Chris explains how much the use is an opportunity Peterborough has been more than happy to utilise. “Absolutely – data is paramount to helping us to understand our supporters.”
“The integration from Ticketmaster’s system into our CRM system goes a long way to help give us an insight into purchasing habits and using access control data, when supporters arrive at the stadium and with who. We can then tailor marketing campaigns to encourage fans to arrive early and spend more money at the stadium.”
Speaking of Ticketmaster, Peterborough’s association with them dates back many years, though not as many as Chris’ impressive record. “I’ve been working with them (Ticketmaster) since 2005, I believe back then it was called Synchro Systems.” Chris says: “First and foremost, a ticketing provider must be able to provide the core functionality for a ticket office to run smoothly, but also be able to provide the training and support when needed – if the functionality is there, but we don’t know how to use it, there’s no point having it.”
“We’ve had a few account managers over the years, and they’ve all been very good. We are pretty much self-sufficient with ticketing, and we don’t need help that often, but when we do, we’ve always been able to get hold of someone who can help.” Chris added, then commented on Peterborough FC’s decision to continue their long association and partnership with Ticketmaster.
“Having looked at various different ticketing systems, Ticketmaster’s offering was the best value for money given the extensive range of features it provides. Having a fully integrated access control system provided at a fraction of the cost of the competitors was a major factor. As someone who likes to innovate, seeing the roadmap with some exciting new developments to come in the future was also key when deciding to renew our partnership.”
“We try to encourage as many fans as possible to purchase their match tickets, memberships and season tickets through our online ticketing website, and e-tickets/digital ticketing has been extremely useful. The web reports with email subscriptions are also very useful to me and the management team.” He concluded.
The relationship between a football club and its fans is a vital one. Peterborough have proven that it is possible to bring in digital ticketing in a constructive manner, working collaboratively with Ticketmaster and their fanbase to create a positive experience for all.
