In this age of digital transformation, it’s surprising to note that most sporting entities in Kenya still rely on traditional methods of ticketing. The world has moved on from long queues and paper tickets, yet many sporting organizations are yet to embrace online ticketing fully. This reluctance to embrace change is not only outdated, but it also deprives fans of the convenience and ease that comes with online ticketing.Online ticketing is a game-changer in the world of sports. It provides fans with the ability to purchase tickets from the comfort of their homes, reducing the hassle of having to do that just before kickoff. It also allows for more streamlined and efficient ticketing processes, reducing the wait time for fans and increasing the overall experience of attending sporting events. Furthermore, online ticketing provides sporting organizations with valuable data on their fans’ preferences, enabling them to better tailor their offerings and improve their engagement with fans.Ticket Sasa is a premier ticketing solutions povider and in this article, the company’s Brand Manager, explores the benefits of online ticketing for sporting events and examine why more sporting entities should embrace this technology. 1. How would e-ticketing solve the ticketing problem in Kenyan football? Football is a growing sport in Kenya with a loyal fanbase across the country. Mashemeji derby is one of the leading sporting calendar events in Kenya. It’s therefore, important that fan access is made as simple, easy and convenient as possible. To ensure this happens, it is important that we have a solid ticketing system in place to ensure that everybody who wants a ticket can get one. While marketing, physical infrastructure, competitiveness of the league and hype are all things that drive engagement from the fanbase, without a seamless ticketing system the whole thing falls down.Sharks adopt cashless ticketing for Gor Mahia clashAn e-ticketing system enables online sales and issuance of the tickets to all the fans including those who may not be around the city. This guarantees smooth game-day admissions. The increasing use of technology in stadiums, including smartphone access, will enrich the sports fans overall experience and guarantee them coming back for more.2. Have you ever tried to work with Kenyan football clubs? How was it? Yes. We have previously worked with Kenyan football clubs to manage their ticket systems on short term contracts. From our experience, users and fans prefers a simple system, therefore, online and mobile ticketing is most appropriate in the local context.3. Have you handled other sporting events? How was it? Yes. We have handled several sporting events over the years. We managed Kenya Open for five consecutive years, up until 2019. We’re also currently doing the Magical Kenya Ladies Open. We have also managed multiple football and rugby games as well as marathons in Kenya. We worked with the Athletics Kenya during the 2022 Kip Keino Classic World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Nairobi 2022 tickets.Our goal at Ticketsasa is to continue to explore more of such partnerships with events owners and clubs across the country to the benefit of the fans. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7220357##4. What are the benefits of e-ticketing?E-ticket systems like Ticketsasa enable users to make ticket reservations online and print out the tickets by themselves. Not only does this system benefit the fans but the organizers themselves benefit through cost savings on ticket printing. It’s an ultimate win-win scenario for both the fans and events organisers.For sporting events, e-ticketing provides the event organizers with a real-time and transparent avenue to track sales and attendance before (advance sales) and during the event.Another benefit to the end-user is, it saves on time. You don’t have to physically locate ticketing outlets when you can simply click and get a genuine ticket.But in Kenya we want to sell physical tickets 20 minutes to kick off https://t.co/F4aWbpvw2t— Jeff Kinyanjui (@_JeffKinyanjui) April 27, 2023 With Ticketsasa, event organisers including football clubs can also easily set up as many different ticket types as they wish. The system will automatically issue the appropriate ticket and, upon being scanned while entering the stadium, will update the database accordingly.Our platform also enables advanced reporting dashboard— a detailed picture of real-time sales figures— subsequently the organisers are able to get an overview of what’s going on in regards to sales in order to evaluate past, present and future marketing campaigns.Finally, reducing the need to print tickets, events organisers are saving huge sums of money on logistics that can in turn be funnelled back into the stadium to further enhance the users experience and benefit the attendees as a whole. Additionally the reduction in paper consumed is having a positive environmental impact as well.5. In other countries, tickets are sold out even days and week to such high magnitude matches. Do you think it is possible to do this in Kenya?Yes. It’s possible to have sold out sporting events, concerts and other entertainment events. The organisers, however, have to ensure that the fans can get their hands on tickets easily and at a reasonable price. An e-ticketing system ensures that fans can purchase the tickets at the convenience of their homes or on their mobile devices without having to queue at the gates during the game-day. In Kenya, we have had several sold-out events on the Ticketsasa platform. We believe, with proper organisation we will soon see the same trend in football and other sporting events.6. Anything else you’d like to add? Across the globe, several major stadiums and associated sports teams have already implemented mobile ticketing and e-ticketing, and with fans entering stadiums via mobile access provisions, this trend is set to carry over into Kenya.With event organisers and football teams looking to increasingly utilise the latest technology to improve their grounds and enhance the user experience, e-ticketing looks set to take off. By understanding some of the key benefits in the adoption of e-tickets, stadium and fan experience managers can begin to implement technology that brings a host of advantages to fans as well as security improvements to stadium operators.
