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Today we had 25 executives on our second "Sports tickets & sponsorships during COVID-19" roundtable where we heard some interesting points....
Business as usual: Most firms are conducting business as usual plans, not cancelling or scaling back live events beyond the cancels/postpones already announced - which is much different than '08-'09.
Waivers: A few firms have created waivers for guests sign. (Note: some of our customers do this already with in-suite tablets- a good idea in all environments)
Something we're assuming will be part of the new normal and much easier to execute with mobile entry.
Something we're assuming will be part of the new normal and much easier to execute with mobile entry.
Full Attendance or No Attendance: Most believed returning with limited attendance would be burdensome and would rather wait for a full return when safe. They would rather wait on returning as opposed to having an 18 person suite with only 6 people attending.
No Fans = More Activation: Major sponsors are working with teams to get more activation around games played with no fans. One is working on virtual reality as a category
Re-Sale: Most all will re-sell unused inventory- including many who weren't pre-COVID 19
Re-Sale: Most all will re-sell unused inventory- including many who weren't pre-COVID 19
Big Opens: Most expect high-demand opening days in all sports followed by a steep drop in demand from previous levels
Reserving Games: Many are already taking match-up requests from guests regardless of game day (Cubs vs Cards, Chiefs vs Chargers, etc)
Reserving Games: Many are already taking match-up requests from guests regardless of game day (Cubs vs Cards, Chiefs vs Chargers, etc)
"Good Partners": Many asking teams for relaxed payment terms or make goods in lieu of asking for cancellation or money back to "be good partners."
Nobody Knows Anything: These were 25 major sponsors at the naming rights level in all sports. The first ones communicated with by teams as they write the biggest checks. They had all heard very different timetables from their respective partners. June? July? October? and so on
Three more roundtables this week! Partners/customers only please. https://ticketmanager.com/virtual-roundtable/
