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Premier Badminton League revamps ticketing model with Paytm

Indian digital payment firm Paytm, which owns TicketNew and Insider.in, has agreed a ticketing partnership with the Premier Badminton League (PBL).

The deal will initially take in the fourth season of the India-based franchise competition, which will run from December 22 to January 13.

As the official ticketing partner of the PBL, fans can now match tickets online through Paytm and its affiliated online platforms. Fans will still be able to buy tickets from arena box offices, but the Paytm deal has been struck to provide wider benefits.

“We wanted to give more value to the fans and not just buy tickets of the matches, and association with the Paytm platform helps us achieve that goal,” Atul Pande, managing director of PBL organiser SportzLive, told the Inside Sport website.

“Fans will also get an opportunity to redeem and utilise cashback offers on the tickets they are booking online.”

The PBL has also moved to revamp its ticket pricing strategy for the 2018-19 season. Ticket prices will start at Rs299 (£3.30/€3.70/$4.20) for students, with the next tiers starting at Rs499 and Rs999, respectively.

Premium court-side tickets have been lowered in price to Rs2,999 and opened up to all fans, having previously been reserved for corporate partners only.

Pande said: “Based on our feedback and keeping the fan interest in mind, we ensured that all host cities this season have the premium tickets, as well as tickets priced at lesser denominations, so that fans can choose from what they want and also be incentivised with cash back offers.

“Students, on the contrary, can show their valid college/school identity card along with one photo ID card and can also get vouchers while they buy match tickets.”

Fans buying a pair of PBL match tickets through Paytm channels will also be granted Rs150 in cinema vouchers, while certain advance bookings will be eligible for discounts of up to 25% and up to Rs400 cashback.