Tampa Bay Rays

Challenge

The Tampa Bay Rays were looking to gain a better understanding of their fan's preferences, including how much they were willing to spend on tickets, what the demand for tickets was and how to reach fans that might not regularly attend games. Rather than sending generic email campaigns and promotions, the Rays aimed to engage with fans directly, discover their preferences, and uncover insights about the desired price points that would encourage them to attend remaining spring training home games.

Solution

To entice fans to purchase spring training tickets, the Tampa Bay Rays implemented a “Pitch Your Price” program built by TicketRev, in which fans could propose, or “pitch” a price for their desired stadium seats instead of paying the advertised ticket price.

Fans easily participated in the “Pitch Your Price” program through four straightforward steps:

  1. Select the game(s) they wish to attend
  2. Choose their preferred seating location(s)
  3. Propose their desired ticket price
  4. Obtain their tickets once their proposal is accepted

This improved ticketing experience is characterized by its simplicity, convenience, and an important benefit: fans pay the exact price they pitch, without any additional charges.

Results

To conduct the A/B test, the Tampa Bay Rays sent two email campaigns to a group of fans who had only purchased tickets to one game in the past year. As a result, the TicketRev email sold hundreds of tickets and captured nearly one thousand users that can be used to retarget for the next ‘Pitch Your Price’ campaign. The pilot unearthed valuable insights into what their fans truly value and prioritize, which form the basis for informed decisions on how to enhance upcoming fan experiences.