Football Association of Wales chooses Tixserve following digital ticketing experience as end user

Context

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has introduced secure and interactive digital ticketing for all FAW international games held at Cardiff City Stadium to streamline ticket delivery and engage ticket holders.

The partnership with Tixserve follows after FAW's Chief Commercial and Engagement Officer, Ian Davis, experienced the Tixserve-powered digital ticketing solution at Principality Stadium as an end user / ticket holder during the 2021 Autumn Internationals rugby series.

Having witnessed the Principality Stadium Ticketing app's capabilities and efficiency, Davis made the decision to implement the Tixserve-powered digital ticketing distribution solution at FAW.

Challenge

Previously, paper tickets were used at all FAW-managed international games and brought some challenges to the football organisation. FAW had a limited ticket holder database that consisted only of their lead bookers and they therefore had no insight of their actual attendees on matchdays.

Ticket fraud was a common concern so the organisation required a ticketing solution that could protect their tickets and prevent ticket fraud and duplication from occurring.

Additionally, FAW had no direct channel that could enable them to communicate and engage with their customers before and on matchdays, and create a unique matchday experience for spectators.

Approach

The new Tixserve-powered 'Cymru Tickets' app was rolled out to deliver digital tickets to all spectators at Wales international football matches and to replace physical membership cards with digital membership cards.

Matchday ticketing, hospitality ticketing, memberships and VIP tickets are now digitally-powered for fans to enjoy streamlined entry into the stadium and a unique digital experience on matchdays.

Outcomes

"The service Tixserve provides is impressive and the FAW is very excited to increase its efficiency in this area to better service our fans in this digital age."

Streamlined ticket delivery

Tickets continue to be sold as normal through FAW's e-ticketing website, powered by Ticketmaster. But instead of fans receiving tickets by post/email or downloading to Apple/Google Wallet, their tickets are now instantly delivered to their Cymru Tickets app - powered by Tixserve. This method of ticket delivery creates convenience for both the ticket holders and the organisation and ensures that that tickets are stored in a safe and sustainable format.

Sponsors, competing international football teams and other stakeholders now also distribute their allocated tickets digitally using their own self-service Tixserve-powered digital ticket Distribution Portal. This streamlines their ticket distribution workload, ensures fair ticket allocations and allows FAW to know all national and international fans attending the stadium.

Verified ticket holder data

Using Tixserve's verified in-app registration process, FAW now knows every ticket holder including those who received their tickets via transfer. With this newfound knowledge, FAW also knows where their attendees are within the stadium on matchdays, which is enhancing stadium safety.

This verified data also brings new marketing opportunities to FAW, enabling them to grow addressable audiences.

Dylan Richards, Data and Insights Manager of Football Association of Wales, mentions:

"Tixserve is now a core component of our data and CRM strategy and will enable us to gain a far greater understanding of our audience."

Incremental revenues

Using the digital ticket fulfilment platform, the digital event tickets can be designed, distributed and updated by FAW using real-time marketing, mobile commerce, engagement and communication features that enable them to generate incremental revenues and create a unique matchday experience for ticket holders.

The interactive digital tickets engage ticket holders leading up to and on matchday and FAW can utilise the m-commerce features to upsell and cross-sell products, services and upcoming events - transforming the digital tickets into an active profit centre.

The organisation also utilises the direct communication channel to share important event-related information, event content and exciting offers to fans.

Secure tickets

With patented security features and verified ticket holder data, the tickets are protected from touts and suspicious activity. FAW now have complete transparency of the lifecycle and activity of every ticket with real-time insights post-ticket distribution.

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Having experienced Tixserve's digital ticketing app as an end user, FAW were confident in adopting Tixserve's digital ticket delivery and engagement solution within their organisation.

FAW's Chief Commercial and Engagement Officer, Ian Davis, previously commented:

‍"The Football Association of Wales is very pleased to enter this partnership with Tixserve to enhance the user experience of ticket holders attending Cymru international matches. The Cymru Tickets app will allow us to seamlessly deliver tickets to our fans, allowing them to keep their purchases all in one place.

The service Tixserve provides is impressive and the FAW is very excited to increase its efficiency in this area to better service our fans in this digital age."

The ticket fulfilment solution now enables FAW to:

• Create, design, distribute and update their digital tickets in just a few clicks,
• Collect clean, accurate and verified ticket holder data,
• Prevent ticket fraud and protect their tickets,
• Generate incremental revenue, and
• Boost fan engagement with interactive ticketing features.

Tixserve looks forward to continuing to enhance FAW's ticket delivery process, bringing new opportunities to the organisation as it continues to create new innovations.