Chelsea scrap bookings fees and the industry should take note.
Booking fees are a fundamental part of ticketing, from sporting events to museum tours we experience these costly fees on a regular basis.
In some cases, fans are being asked to pay £1.25 per ticket for the pleasure of printing a ticket in their own home - with their own ink and paper! In other scenario’s, booking fees can reach £15 - £20 per order.
For traditional ticketing companies, it’s a huge money spinner. By making £1.50 - £3 per order depending on the price of ticket and print at home options used, ticket companies are taking £20,000 per year per smaller club and £200,000 or much more per annum from larger clubs. Who’s paying? The club are often paying admin fees. But the fan is carrying the real cost. You can see why fans are calling it out.
It’s not just Chelsea who have received negative feedback regarding booking fees. At the recent 2022 playoff final at Wembley, Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield fans were asked to pay a £2.50 per ticket fee then a £1.25 print-at-home delivery fee… Meaning a family of four were expected to pay £15 in booking fees on top of tickets costing up to £98 each!
Is it time that clubs followed suit and scrapped booking fees? In the example above, that family of 4 are paying £6 for print at home. A PDF costs less than a fraction of a penny. This is a ridiculous cost. Then layer on top of that the booking fee. All fans are doing here is paying for clubs to have their data. That fan’s data is an asset of the club and the ticket company. When in a real life example would you ever pay extra to give YOUR information to someone else for no value in return?
Can have a negative impact on digital adoption > change to The model is broken and hurting clubs that want to drive a big data strategy. For clubs who are serious about growing their fanbase and driving digital adoption, making it as accessible as possible should be the priorityMaking what accessible?
Yes, clubs could go on passing on fees and protecting their own financial position but I’m pretty sure thing will only feed negative sentiment towards the club and discourage digital adoption. What I do know is that scrapping booking fees and showing consideration for fans definitely does increase positive sentiment and drive digital adoption.Make your club the next bold club to scrap these fees. And if it’s hitting your financials by doing so, then maybe it’s time to look for a partner like us.
Here at Fanbase we’re making it easy for clubs to utilise that data, provide an excellent fan experience and reap the rewards. This means clubs don’t need to charge booking fees in a cost of living crisis and are instead flipping the narrative to see digital platforms like Fanbase as an investment to see larger long-term benefits.
Yes, clubs could go on passing on fees and protecting their own financial position but I’m pretty sure thing will only feed negative sentiment towards the club and discourage digital adoption. What I do know is that scrapping booking fees and showing consideration for fans definitely does increase positive sentiment and drive digital adoption.
