Following 15 years of partnership the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and Ticketmaster Sport have renewed a multi-year deal that will see the WRU use Ticketmaster’s ticketing technology for years to come.
Rhodri Lewis, WRU Commercial and Legal Director comments that the WRU are “delighted to extend our partnership with Ticketmaster. This is a partnership which will benefit all of Welsh rugby by supporting our future strategies with market leading technology underpinned by many years of operational integrity.
“The fact that Ticketmaster is partner to all four of the professional sides in our domestic game, joining Cardiff RFC, the Dragons and the Scarlets as part of our long-standing partnership and already in situ at the Ospreys through their home ground, can only be beneficial to Welsh rugby as a whole.”
Malcolm Wall, Chair of the Professional Rugby Board explains that “the partnership with Ticketmaster provides an invaluable resource to Welsh rugby and I’m delighted the deal has been renewed. Ticketmaster places the needs of Welsh rugby fans front-and-centre and the innovative solutions driven by Ticketmaster ensure Welsh rugby is fully equipped to adapt to the changing landscape of live events. I look forward to continuing our work with them.”
With ticketing and the associated income representing over 60% of the WRU’s turnover, being able to utilise the available technology to maximise revenue is central to the WRU’s long term strategy and future growth.
Key to the decision behind the renewal has been the ability for the WRU to collaborate with Ticketmaster in new and exciting opportunities as they arise. The WRU was the first organisation to pilot a new analytics project that saw the adoption of tools using custom-AI model to better forecast ticketing and pricing strategies.
As Matthew Clark, Head of Ticketing at the WRU explains that “it was fascinating to connect team performance and other external factors such as kick off times into our existing data sets and understand how this influences ticket purchasing trends. This will certainly help us make data-led decisions moving forwards.”
Rhodri Lewis, WRU Commercial and Legal Director adds that “overlaying statistics with supporter purchase habits into our existing data sets, helps us to understand how ticket purchasing trends are influenced. It has helped us to accurately show how supporters purchase tickets across all of our rugby internationals matches and we’ve been able to support this by diversifying our ticket product offering.”
Innovation and partnership have been the cornerstones of Ticketmaster’s working relationship with the WRU. As Chris Gratton, Managing Director of Ticketmaster Sport comments: “We have been the chosen ticketing partner of the WRU for over 15 years, and we couldn’t be happier that they have chosen to further extend this partnership for the long term. Matt, Rhodri and the entire team at WRU are fantastic to work with and it means a lot to the team at Ticketmaster Sport that the WRU continue to put their trust in us as their ticketing partner.”
For more information on how Ticketmaster Sport can help you with your ticketing get in touch here.
