TICKETING
02/25/2020

How does ticketing work?

Over 13 million tickets were sold in the Bundesliga last season. A lot of work and organisation goes into that. But how do the ticketing operations of a Bundesliga club actually work? SPIELFELD took a look.

How many places are there in the PreZero Arena?

The PreZero Arena's capacity is 30,150. The stadium, which opened in 2009, has seating for 23,400 fans and holds 6,750 in the standing area. Almost 60% (16,000) of the places belong to season ticket holders, while around 3,000 tickets are reserved for away fans. That means there are around 11,000 tickets on sale for each home game. 

Where can TSG fans purchase tickets?

In addition to the Online Shop and the Ticket Shop at the PreZero Arena, there are 20 additional advance sales points that are listed at achtzehn99.de/tickets/vvk-stellen. Tickets purchased online may be paid for via credit card, PayPal or instant transfer. At the Ticket Shop and the advance sales points, there is the additional option to pay with cash or an EC card.

Which different types of tickets are there?

TSG Hoffenheim offers three different types of ticket for home games: the classic "hard ticket", a ticket which is sent via e-mail for printing at home and a mobile ticket where a QR code is displayed on your smartphone. For the sake of the environment, TSG recommends the mobile ticket.

Which type of ticket is the most popular?

Approximately 60% of customers purchase a print-at-home ticket, while "hard tickets" and mobile tickets account for 30% and 10% respectively. "The way customers purchase tickets is increasingly changing due to digitisation. There used to be more 'hard tickets'," said Thorsten Baller, Head of Ticketing at TSG Hoffenheim. "In France, for example, there are now almost exclusively print-at-home and mobile tickets. That's where we want to get in the future."

What advantages do TSG members have?

Tickets for every TSG Hoffenheim home game go on sale to members before going on general sale. "TSG members always have an advance purchase right. So being a member is worth it for that reason," said Baller.

How many different price categories are there?

There are six different price categories for every home game. In addition, there are three price lists depending on the opponent. The cheapest seated ticket costs 20 without reductions, while the price for a standing ticket is 14. That means TSG is in the lower third of the Bundesliga table when it comes to average ticket prices. In addition, the season ticket prices have only been increased once in the last 12 years."

What are the advantages of the new TSG Secondary Ticket Market?

Any fan may purchase or sell a ticket via the Secondary Ticket Market. If, for example, a season ticket holder cannot make it to a home game, he or she may place it for sale on the Secondary Ticket Market, which was founded almost one year ago, and another supporter may purchase their ticket for the match in question. The Secondary Ticket Market is very popular when it comes to standing spaces, as these are all held by season ticket holders. In the first half of the season alone, over 1,500 tickets were sold via the platform.

How does the TSG Climate Ticket work?

Every time a ticket is purchased, the customer has the option to donate an amount of their choosing to the project "Small farmers in Uganda regrow forests". For every euro that is donated, TSG plants a seedling in Uganda. Since October, the new Climate Ticket has already been purchased around 2,500 times.

How is it decided how many tickets are sold to each fan?

That depends on the opponent. For games where the demand is extremely high, such as those against FC Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund for example, each customer may purchase up to two tickets. The ticket limit generally varies between two and eight tickets.

How does the process work between the scheduling of the match and the start of the advance sale?

"We sit down together as soon as the fixture list is announced and plan the date on which tickets for home games go on advance sale," said Baller. Per half-season, there are two to three sales blocks with a maximum of four matches. For the away games, the advance sale tends to begin around four weeks in advance. Anyone who is interested can find out the exact dates on the homepage.

How long does the advance sale period last?

For home games, the advance sale ends once the PreZero Arena is sold out. Should this not be the case, fans have the opportunity to buy tickets up until half-time in the match – online too. For away games, the online sale and the Ticket Shop sale tend to end five and three days beforehand respectively.

How many tickets does TSG usually get for away games?

In principle, away teams tend to get a maximum ticket allocation of 10%. When ordering away tickets, TSG uses the demand for the match against the same opponent the previous year as a reference point. After weighing up the date and other circumstances (holidays, evening game, etc.), TSG decides in cooperation with the fan support staff how many tickets should be ordered.

Are there variations in the different competitions? 

Unlike in the Bundesliga, there are no standing places for European games. That means there are around 2,500 places fewer in the South Stand for European games.

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