Think back to your own ultimate gameday experience. A warm summer afternoon and the crack of the bat right before the ball soars over the fence. Peanuts and hot dogs. Maybe a foamy, cold beer. All elements add to a memorable fan experience at the ballpark and leave them wanting to come back for more. Bringing all of these elements to your fans can be easy and cost-effective when you deploy the right ticketing solution. In this article, we’ll show you how an Eventbrite alternative can make your gameday operations easier and more efficient while increasing your fans’ satisfaction with their minor league game day experience.

Minor League Baseball was founded in Chicago in 1901, and a myriad of changes have taken place in the fan experience over the ensuing decades. Gone are the days when fans would line up at the gate 15 minutes before the first pitch with $20 bills in hand, ready-to-buy tickets, concessions, souvenirs, and other merch. Baseball fans have embraced the app world, and they want event ticketing options that are fast and flexible to their game-day needs.

Successful ticketing solutions lead to successful gameday operations.

As most fans will tell you, ballparks are created equal. But some do rise to the top of the list, and the attendee experience is decidedly a vital factor in facility perception. Minor League Baseball’s 2022 organization of the year was the Nashville Sounds. Through their effective deployment of event ticketing software, they led the minors in total attendance at over 555,500 fans. Cohesive communication between ticket sales and service staff helped keep customer satisfaction at an all-league high. By deploying the right Eventbrite alternative, your ballpark can see similar growth and customer loyalty, too.

Season Passes and Individual Game Ticketing

With the right Eventbrite alternative ticketing software, you can offer your fans a myriad of ticketing options that fit their schedule and lifestyle best.

Full-season tickets are the obvious option, and a fruitful segment to market to. The Nashville Sounds realized a 10% growth in season ticket sales in 2022 compared to 2019 sales. Full-season ticket holders tend to spend more money at the arena buying food, snacks and drinks, team merch, and other upsells. But unless you are the most die-hard of die-hard fans, well, having season tickets can seem like having a second job! Back and forth to the ballpark during those long home-stretch spans can become tedious. It is up to the teams to present varied ticket packages to fans.

Establishing a consistent revenue stream can also be achieved with half-season and event quarter-season ticketing packages. Presenting these options to your ticket purchasers is an easy option with SimpleTix’s event ticketing segmentation, which allows your game attendees to still be engaged with the team on that “super fan” level.

But it’s not just fractions of seasons. A robust event ticketing platform moves past these rigid structures and offers various options:

• Multi-game ticket packages that assign fans the same seat for all 10 games.
• Fans can buy individual tickets for multiple games and reserve the same seat for all games, even without a season pass.
• A combination of individual game tickets with pricing tiered by the day of the week can encourage special pricing for weekday games.

But individual game ticket purchasers will also enjoy the flexibility that SimpleTix provides them. Not only do you “Kill the line” with ticketing pre-sales, but there is also less foot traffic congregated all at once. A staggered entry not only encourages social distancing but also allows attendees to stroll casually through the ballpark to their assigned seats, giving them more time to pick up snacks and merch before the opening pitch. All of the stress and worry is removed from their minor league gameday experience! 

With an alternative to Eventbrite system like this, all of a fan’s tickets can be added to one cart. No more lost tickets—all tickets live in the ST app, so there’s no fussing around right before the game. When it comes time to go to the game, fans only need 1 QR code on the day of the game. This convenience not only eliminates the ticket shuffle at the gate but also gets fans to their seats faster. 

Through the SimpleTix Attendee app, customers can change their day and timeslot, buy additional tickets, or otherwise alter their ticket details and status. Typically, the event organizer would have to field a phone call or email, then manually change the ticket details in whatever system the organizer is using. If the ticket purchaser can make those changes autonomously, it removes a huge manual burden from the organizer. 

Upsells for Concessions and Swag

As a leading Eventbrite alternative, SimpleTix can provide you with a framework to upsell merch, concessions, and souvenirs at the most lucrative time in the event process—when the fan is in the app, purchasing tickets. This is the time to show them their home team’s jerseys and caps, inform them of the hot-dogs-in-the-park-box-special, or give them a chance to purchase a parking spot closer to the entry gate of the ballpark. As the operator, you can capitalize on this spending moment and upsell to your most loyal attendees. And SimpleTix doesn’t charge the operator more for upsells like concessions or merch when purchasing a ticket, unlike other alternatives to Eventbrite. It’s a win-win.

The sales process is ideal for the customer. Fans can pre-purchase t-shirts, hats, foam fingers, and souvenir coffee mugs before coming to the game. Before they even get in their car, they know what they have waiting for them in their ballpark experience. Your workflow can even allow for their concessions to be delivered to their seats at a specified time. These sales funnels aid your operations staff by making sure they have ordered enough of each type of swag. This increases revenue and decreases the chance of lost sales because of limited inventory, and it prevents you from sitting on a bunch of 2022 mugs at the end of the season. 

But if for some reason you did run out of pre-ordered team jerseys or hot dog buns, SimpleTix makes it easy to give Square gift cards, a platform with brand awareness trusted by your attendees. But it isn’t just refunds—the SimpleTix ticketing platform shares even more functionality with Square. Square lets attendees pay quickly at the gate, minimizing the need to handle cash. One of the greatest features of this SimpleTix/Square partnership is the payment processing workflow, which is very easy for customers who already have a Square account set up. For those who don’t, SimpleTix can help them obtain a Square account and integrate those tools with their event. This partnership with Square is unique in the event ticketing marketplace. In a landscape with several alternatives to Eventbrite, it’s great to see the Square compatibility with SimpleTix. 

Finding the right alternative to Eventbrite

SimpleTix is Eventbrite’s largest competitor, and one of the main reasons is SimpleTix’s straightforward ticket pricing. Both the per-ticket fee and other associated costs are dramatically lower than those of Eventbrite, and the features available to the user are much more robust than Eventbrite’s. There are no upfront costs—nothing until you sell your first ticket. It’s easy to see how his alternative to Eventbrite stands out from the crowd. And as you know, having the right event ticketing solution at your minor league ballpark can make every attendee’s gameday experience a homerun!

SimpleTix has offered an affordable, premium event ticketing platform that outperforms Eventbrite and similar apps for over 12 years. Compared to the competition, SimpleTix offers better options at a better price point. To learn more, call us at +1 (855) 550-3670 or email us here.