PRESS RELEASE: “University of Minnesota Athletics Extends Partnership with AudienceView to Include Merchandise”
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada (AudienceView Ticketing) November 8, 2011 — AudienceView Ticketing, a leading provider of fan management solutions to sports organizations worldwide, has again extended its relationship with the University of Minnesota Athletics Department. The Athletics Department, in collaboration with their apparel partner Gold Country, Inc., has partnered with AudienceView to allow Golden Gopher fans to purchase merchandise in the same transaction as tickets and donations. All fan transactions take place on MyGopherSports.com, a sales and service website powered by AudienceView that was launched in late 2010.
“The addition of merchandise to MyGopherSports represents a huge step forward in college athletics,” said Mike Evenson, Director of Business Development at AudienceView Ticketing. “AudienceView allows organizations to consolidate fan transactions onto one platform, which is unique and powerful because a unified experience is exactly what all consumers crave. It’s inefficient for consumers to transact with the same organization in a series of silos rather than one shopping experience. Who wouldn’t want that?”
MyGopherSports.com, which has eclipsed four million pageviews in its first year of existence, has proven to be the ultimate online destination for Gopher fans interested in supporting the University through purchasing tickets or making donations. By offering integrated merchandise, the Athletics Department can leverage AudienceView’s powerful functionality to target recommendations based on transaction and customer data, offer variable pricing options for special groups such as donors and season ticket holders and further analyze all of the data with a robust business intelligence tool.
“When presented with the option of selling merchandise alongside tickets, memberships, gift cards and donations — compared to a completely separate fan experience — the choice was easy,” said Jason LaFrenz, Associate Athletics Director at the University of Minnesota. “MyGopherSports and Goldy’s Locker Room joining forces has been great for our fans and our fan relations efforts. This has been evident during our first month of this partnership. Fans are already making the conscious choice to buy merchandise with tickets or donate while buying merchandise.”
In the first month of offering fans the ability to purchase merchandise in the same transaction as buying a ticket or making a donation, merchandise revenue increased by 124% and the average order size increased by 233% (when compared to the same period in 2010).
“The results speak for themselves,” Evenson continued. “Athletics departments are not in a position to leave money on the table. Fortunately, Minnesota recognized this and saw the value in an integrated fan experience. I tip my hat to the Minnesota team for choosing this path because this typically hasn’t been an industry where organizations like to be first to make such a bold business move.”
“Moving Goldy’s Locker Room to the AudienceView platform has been a great experience for us and has been an instant success,” said Ron Leafblad, CEO at Signature Concepts / Gold Country, Inc. “The first month has been tremendously successful for all parties involved because it has provided us with the opportunity to put merchandise offers in front of fans who are buying tickets or making donations — activities in which their emotional connection with the Gophers is very high.”
About the University of Minnesota Athletics
A NCAA Division I affiliate and proud member of the Big Ten Conference and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), the University of Minnesota Department of Athletics is one of the nation’s premier intercollegiate sports programs. Located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota Athletics sponsors more than 700 student-athletes competing in 25 sports and is a consistent top-25 finisher in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup standings. Winners of 23 national championships and 176 regular season Big Ten and WCHA championships since beginning intercollegiate competition in 1876, Minnesota Athletics also boasts a proud academic tradition and has produced 101 Academic All-Americans. To learn more about University of Minnesota Athletics, please visit www.gophersports.com.
About AudienceView Ticketing
AudienceView Ticketing provides a fully integrated, web-based ticketing, CRM and fundraising solution to more than 160 sports, arts, entertainment and non-traditional ticketing organizations worldwide. Supporting both in-house and hosted ticketing models, AudienceView’s white-label solution offers the ability to create unlimited online brands, control your venue and event data, access real-time business data and interact directly with your customers. AudienceView’s leading-edge solution opens the door to superior venue management, an enhanced customer experience and ultimately, increased revenue. For more information about AudienceView Ticketing, please visit www.AudienceView.com.
For More Information on AudienceView Ticketing:
Nick Begley
416.687.2000 x6021
[email protected]
