The 2014 South American Games: A Winning Model for Ticketing at International Sport Events? Michael Pedersen

The calendar of the year is packed with international sport events. While such events offer great opportunities for athletes to compete with their peers and for fans to celebrate their passion for sport, stadiums and sport arenas are often left half-empty during such events. That is not only demotivating for athletes and fans. It is also a missed opportunity for utilizing an international sport event to further develop sport in the host country. Getting the pricing and distribution of tickets right is a critical success factor in filling sport arenas and stadiums during international sport events and so for building a lasting event legacy of increased interest and participation in sport.

This 13th contribution of mine for iSportconnect’s expert column on sport governance offers perspectives on ticketing at international sport events with a focus on the case of the recent 2014 South American Games. The contribution highlights how the Chilean Government and the City of Santiago as hosts of the Games pursued a strategy for pricing and distribution of tickets, which aimed at increasing Chileans’ interest in sport with a long-term legacy in terms of increased participation in sport and improved population health. The contribution suggests that granting fair and equal access to the competition venues during the 2014 South American Games was a critical success factor in filling sport arenas and stadiums throughout the Games, not least in making tickets available either for free or at a very low price. The contribution also offers some critical questions about ticketing at international sport events for sport leaders to consider, as they start the process of modernizing their governance standards for the future.

My 14th contribution is going to be published in the middle of May. It is going to offer perspectives on annual reporting of sport governing bodies with a focus the case of South African Rugby Union.

Pricing and distribution of tickets are critical in achieving the desired legacy of an international sport event

Motives of governments and cities for hosting international sport events vary. For some, it is about economic growth and development. For some, it is about national pride and prestige. For some, it is about further developing sport by increasing interest and participation in sport. For others, it is about a mix of such motivations.

Either way, the strategy for pricing and distribution of tickets for competitions in the context a sport event is a critical success factor in achieving the desired legacy of an international sport event. Across the board, aspects such as fair and equal access for people to attend competitions during the event will greatly influence the legacy of an event. That is especially the case, if the main motivation for hosting an international sport event is further developing sport by increasing interest and participation in sport.

The 2014 South American Games was to increase interest and participation in sport by filling sport arenas and stadiums

As the Chilean Government and the City of Santiago bid to become hosts of the 2014 South American Games, there was a clear strategy for doing so. The hosting of the Games was seen as a means to an end rather than as an end in itself. In fact, it was seen as a potentially very powerful means of increasing Chileans’ interest in sport and of broadening it beyond what was mostly an interest in football and to some extent tennis. The thinking was that increased interest in sport would generate increased participation in and across sport. The thinking was also that increased participation in sport would eventually help the country address and reduce a critical socio-economic challenge, caused by dramatically rising numbers of obesity.

Pricing and distribution of tickets were essential parts of successfully implementing the strategy for hosting the 2014 South American Games. Success was defined as full sport arenas and stadiums in the context of an international sport event with 3,500 participating athletes from 14 countries, 33 sports, 317 medal-awarding disciplines and a total of more than 620,000 tickets for seats and spaces at competition venues.

Inspired by the approach of Colombia and Medellín for their hosting of the 2010 South American Games, 80% of all tickets for all competitions were made available for free at the 2014 South American Games. The remaining 20% tickets were made available for sale to fans wanting the best seats or spaces at specific competitions. Those tickets were all made available at an affordable price between 3 and 12 USD per ticket.

To ensure fair and equal access to the competitions, and as a measure of preventing a black market for reselling tickets, everyone with an interest in attending competitions was given the opportunity to get/buy four tickets for each day of the Games. The handling of the ticketing was outsourced to the company ‘Ticketek’. Through the company, all tickets were made available on a first-come, first-served basis. People wanting tickets had to create a user profile on the Internet. Upon doing so, they could reserve tickets online and pick them up at special ticket distribution venues.

The ticketing system was opened up to the public 40 days prior to the beginning of the 2014 South American Games. Tickets were available until the last minute of a specific competition, if not already sold out. If data indicated a high number of available tickets prior to a specific competition, local schools were offered to send pupils as spectators. Also, for all competitions there was an opportunity for people without tickets to show up at the venue at the time of the actual competition. In case of no-shows, people in line would then be let in on a first-come, first-served basis.

Data analysis shows that 75% of all tickets were booked online in the first week after the tickets were made available. The data also reveals that 25% of free ticket holders did not show up for the actual competition that they had a ticket for (as apposed to 40% at the 2010 South American Games in Medellín, Colombia). Lastly, the data shows that 54% of the total number of seats and spaces at all competitions were eventually filled. There is no data available that estimates the potential revenue opportunity costs of making tickets available for free and at a low price, simply because generating or maximizing ticket revenues were not a strategic objective for hosting the 2014 South American Games.