UP258 The Ticket Problem

Match tickets are the point at which the promise of new technology meets real life. And the results are mixed. Some of the biggest football matches in recent times have been blighted by claims and counter claims of ticket fraud and technology failures, most notably at the 2022 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool in Paris, the start of which was delayed amid frightening and chaotic scenes outside the Stade de France as thousands of ticket holding Liverpool fans were stuck outside where police deployed pepper spray and tear gas on supporters holding legitimate tickets. The French government's initial response was to deflect failures in policing by putting the blame on what it called "industrial-scale" ticket fraud, pointing at similar scenes at UEFA's other showcase event, the Euro 2020 final at Wembley last year between England and Italy. So what's gone wrong with the humble match ticket? Has the shift to digital and mobile technology made it easier for the fraudsters, or is ticketing just an easy scapegoat for other problems. This is a conversation about where we are in the evolution of mobile ticketing in particular, and what it reveals about sport's adoption of new technology more generally. Our guests are Mike Bohdinek and Cris Miller. Mike is Founder & Chief Executive Officer at PTI Digital, an expert in sport stadium and venue delivery with 15 years experience including stadium transformations and deployments into more than 30 global sport and entertainment venues. Cris is global Business Director of Stubhub and Viagogo, the largest ticket marketplace in the world. One thing to mention before we start the conversation is the inaugural Unofficial Partner Live event taking place on Wednesday 21st September at The Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club.  Tickets have just gone on sale and you can buy them here. You’ll find more detail about the content and format for the evening and keep up to date with guest announcements via the Unofficial Partner Newsletter that goes direct to the inbox of thousands of people across sport, every Thursday. Sign up via UnofficialPartner.comUnofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.