Featured Image: Last season’s Super League semi-final between Wigan Warriors and Hull KR
Rugby League Commercial has appointed Tickets.com as English rugby league’s new ticketing provider for all major central events.
The sport of rugby league is currently undergoing a ‘reimagining’, with Rugby League Commercial having formed as the result of a partnership between the Rugby Football League (RFL) Council and Super League Europe. Rugby League Commercial drives rugby league’s commercial development, in partnership with IMG, a sports and culture agency.
IMG signed a 12-year strategic partnership with the RFL Council and Super League Europe in 2022, and improving the ticketing experience for fans has been a key part of the reimagining plans.
The new ticketing site is already live, with options available for the 2024 Challenge Cup Finals, Magic Weekend and Super League Grand Final.
“We have been reviewing all areas of the sport’s commercial operation over the last year, in partnership with IMG, and we are excited by the possibilities of our new partnership with Tickets.com,” said Rhodri Jones, managing director of Rugby League Commercial.
“As a company owned by Major League Baseball and also supplying NASCAR and the United Soccer League, they have an impressive track record of delivering league-wide ticketing.
“We want to make it as easy as possible to buy tickets for rugby league matches, and this is an important step in that journey. As an organisation which stages major events in different venues – this year Wembley Stadium, Elland Road and Old Trafford are already on sale – flexibility is key, and while we will continue to offer paper tickets for those fans who prefer that method of delivery, we believe that many of our customers will appreciate the additional digital and mobile ticketing options that we will be able to offer through Tickets.com.”
Joe Choti, president and chief executive of Tickets.com, added: “We are thrilled to partner with Rugby League Commercial, and we welcome them to the Tickets.com family. Our goal is to be more than just a ticketing provider to our clients and our new collaboration with Rugby League Commercial will help us to develop the future of ticketing technology for sports and entertainment.
“We look forward to bringing rugby league fans across the UK to our powerful, reliable, and secure ticketing platform to deliver a paramount digital experience. Tickets.com is keen to grow our partnership and looks forward to playing a key role in the reimagining of rugby league.”
Head of ticketing at Rugby League Commercial, Rick Jurkiewicz, noted on LinkedIn that the total time transferring live customer data over from Ticketmaster Sport and enabling Tickets.com was 47 hours and 22 minutes.
Jurkiewicz added: “Ditching paper (220 questions) in favour of video (20 questions) for the tender was my decision. This method gave me 10x more detail per question, and eliminated copy/paste responses. It also told me far more about the technology company making the submission than a “rinse and repeat” doc might ever.”
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