Ticketing across the world’s social spectrum

The organisers of SA 2010 are keen to draw in the world’s richest tourists while making the event accessible for local people. How is this possible?

“We have three million tickets,” says Danny Jordaan, CEO of the local organising committee. “In Germany they had 50 million requests for the three million tickets. In our country alone there are 47 million people. Now, how do you decide who gets the tickets?”

South African sports fans are amongst the
most enthusiastic in the world.

Will the big spenders qualify?
A lot still depends on which teams will qualify. This is a challenge FIFA faces with every event: most fans only decide once their team has qualified if and how many tickets they will buy.

Jordaan says: “It’s very important that the teams with the big profiles qualify. The biggest followings, if you look at the German World Cup, were the Netherlands with 115,000 fans, England with 110,000 fans, the huge Japanese following of 35,000, Argentina with 35,000 – the big teams must qualify.”

With so much riding on the success of the event, FIFA appointed Horst Schmidt to assist the local organising committee with planning the event. Schmidt, a key player in the success of Germany 2006, says: “Countries like the UK and the Netherlands almost guarantee a high number of fans. But it also depends on how much money these fans can spend.”

Crisis? What crisis?
The commercial success of the event is at the mercy of the economic insecurity currently being experienced all over the world. When South Africa received the hosting rights for the events, the number of people expected to visit the country in 2010 jumped from 200,000 to almost half a million. But more recently, figures between 350,000 and 450,000 have been used for calculations. Jordaan says: “We have to look at what the final impact of this will be by next year – many people say by 2010 we will see an upturn, others say we will not. We are studying the trends now in the crisis and we will see what will happen.” The clouds on the financial landscape may have a silver lining. “The good thing is that, visitors may have fewer euros or pounds in their pocket, but when they come to South Africa we will give them more Rands. Last year you got 6.5 Rands to the dollar – today you get 10.4 to the dollar, so the destination will be more affordable.”

Despite these uncertainties, there are signs that ticket sales will live up to expectations. The first phase of ticket sales, a random lottery which ran from 20 February to 31 March 2009, attracted more than 1.6 million applications for tickets from more than 200 countries. The highest number of ticket applications came from residents in South Africa, followed by those from the US, then the UK, Germany, Italy and Australia.

While these figures do not compare well against applications for Germany 2006, which had attracted six million applications by this time, Jordaan is not overly concerned. “Ticket sales are going very well. Of course as teams qualify, as fans get greater confidence that their team will qualify I think the ticket sales will take off.”

Guaranteeing local support
With 30 per cent of ticket sales so far going to South Africans, there is clearly going to be a strong local presence. But in a country where there are huge divisions in wealth, the organisers are making efforts to improve access to the event for disadvantaged fans.

To this end, 120,000 tickets will be distributed for free. Two thirds of these tickets will be set aside to ensure that anyone accompanying a person in a wheelchair will not have to pay.

The remaining third of these free tickets are being donated to construction workers. Jordaan says: “We have 20,000 workers working on the stadiums. The workers will get, in their last pay packet when they go home and the stadium is complete, two tickets to bring a friend along and come and watch the first match in that stadium in the World Cup.”

To make tickets more affordable, a new fourth category of ticket has been introduced, priced at USD 20 and the exchange rate for locally bought tickets has been pegged at 7 ZAR to the dollar. 140 ZAR might still be a lot for the average South African, but Danny Jordaan points out: “The cheapest ticket in Germany 2006 was EUR 35. The cheapest ticket in Japan was 50 USD. There are very few things that are cheaper in 2010 as compared to 2002. There is price certainty and price stability. That is hoping to serve poor South Africans, to allow them access to the event.”

Other initiatives include the introduction by FIFA of ‘group sales’ whereby South African companies in host cities are encouraged to buy tickets for their staff. The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has also implemented a voucher system.

Despite all these initiatives, the number of tickets is limited and those with ready cash are going to be at the front of the queue. Most locals will inevitably be unable to get into the stadiums. Jordaan says: “Nothing can substitute the live experience in the stadium. But I know now that the majority of South Africans will not get a ticket for the World Cup and therefore you have to create ‘fan parks’ so they can go and experience the event in the fan parks.”

As well as the fan parks in the host cities, which were introduced to great success in Germany 2006, ‘public viewing areas’ will be set up in non-host cities. These will also present marketing opportunities, as FIFA’s commercial partners will not have the exclusive rights in these public viewing areas that they enjoy in the fan parks and official venues.

Fear of change
Schmidt expresses reservations about the tiered pricing system. “The main reason why we are concerned is the fact that the World Cup will revolutionise seating arrangements in South African football stadiums,” he says. “Until now, fans in South Africa buy tickets that allow them access to the venue. Once inside they can pick almost any seat they like. That will change in the near future when tickets are linked directly to a particular seat. Fans will need time to get used to this system.”

The new arrangements will reduce the number of entrances fans can use to enter a stadium. Schmidt would have preferred a longer lead-time to get fans accustomed to the new principles. “We don’t know the customs of the local people and how they will apply. We therefore need time to make them familiar with the new system.”

Plans to introduce the system at an early stage failed but Schmidt, with the support of various bodies, is now focusing on other ways to familiarise South Africans with the system before the event begins. “FIFA is addressing different groups in the country including the Premier Soccer League, clubs and the South African Football Association to reach the general public.”

New technologies that have been introduced also jeopardise the organisers’ aims to make tickets available for all. South African football fans are not used to buying “soft” tickets, let alone buying them months in advance without knowing which match they will attend. Only the South African matches are fixed.

Tickets can be purchased via the internet or by applying via branches of South African banking giant FNB. But, as the country only has four million internet connections and FNB branches do not cover the entire country, it is believed that for the close to 50 million South Africans, additional sales channels are necessary. Other procedures will therefore have to be introduced.