The San Antonio Spurs are experimenting with a mobile subscription-based ticketing model that allows fans access to every home game for a monthly fee.
“SpursScription Pass” will offer standing room-only access to each 2018/19 regular season home game for a monthly fee of $44.50. The Spurs play 41 home games through the 82-game NBA season.
Fans can access the product by downloading the official Spurs app. They’ll receive their standing room-only ticket about 24 hours before tip off and can use their mobile pass and associated QR code for entry into AT&T Center. In the app, fans can see a list of available games offered through the plan and a countdown timer on the games they select that indicates when each QR code will be available. Fans will also be able to upgrade into an available seat for an additional cost.
SportTechie Takeaway
The mobile subscription ticketing model is starting to gain steam across the professional sports world. Teams and leagues are increasingly incentivizing fans to use mobile ticketing and their pocket devices to access ticket sales and to enter arenas.
The New York Jets first experimented with a mobile subscription model last season and were the first in the NFL to do so. The $725 monthly Jets Boarding Pass package offered fans the ability to sit in a different seat (some in the nosebleeds, some on the 50-yard line) each time they attended a 2017 home game. The Jets significantly pared down that offering this season by nearly halving the price to $375 and capping Boarding Pass members to the 300-level. The Jets pass comes to $37.50 a game this season, which includes two preseason and eight regular-season home games.
The mobile subscription packages are intended to attract millennial-and-younger demographics with lower-cost ticketing options. There are numerous benefits for the teams behind these plans as well, such as access to fan data by keeping the entire ticketing process in the official app and incentivizing more passionate fans to attend home games versus watching them in a bar or on their couch.