The workshop is designed to help clubs boost attendances and ensure TV revenues are supplemented by healthy ticket sales.
Following the Euroleague’s marketing workshop in December, the new teams signed up to take part in its ticketing programme – an initiative launched last year to boost attendances.
Starting at the weekend, the Euroleague’s ticket sales workshop, staged in Lyon, concludes today.
Joining the four original teams that participated last season – Adecco ASVEL (Lyon-Villeurbanne, France), Alba Berlin, CSKA Moscow and Opel Skyliners (Frankfurt, Germany) – are Skipper Bologna (Italy), Tau CerC!mica (Vitoria, Spain), Union Olimpija (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Efes Pilsen (Istanbul, Turkey), AEK (Athens, Greece) and Zalgiris (Kaunas, Lithuania).
Said chief marketing officer Marshall Glickman: “This is a major step forward for Euroleague.
“We have made ticket sales one of our top priorities and are very pleased that our programme is beginning to attract much greater interest.”
And, according to those teams involved from the start, the results are encouraging: “We have seen a two-to-one return-on-investment, measuring new ticket sales against the costs of hiring full-time ticket salespeople,” said Alba Berlin vice-president, Marco Baldi.
Added Adecco general manager Anthony Thiodet: “Initially, we were a bit skeptical about using NBA tactics here in Europe, but the results have proven that the concepts of the Euroleague Ticketing Programme work very well anywhere. And, we appreciate that Marshall has been very careful to adapt the program to the specific economic and cultural circumstances in each market.”
Says Glickman: “Ticket selling is a very complex undertaking.
“With our programme, we are moving our clubs forward one step at a time. The key is that these clubs have hired full-time executives who are focused on meeting with small, medium and large businesses, face to face, to tell them about the business benefits of attending professional basketball games.
“And, we have encouraged our clubs to offer a range of options – it is very important to us that we develop a new and broader fan base that includes kids, teenagers, families, businesspeople and women.”
