DIE RECKEN from TSV Hannover-Burgdorf on the way to full capacity: recognising and exploiting potential together

9 March 2023

Matchday. The last minutes are running, it's a back and forth. Victory is decided shortly before the end. No one can keep their seats any longer. Fan chants, cheers, applause - the atmosphere couldn't be more rousing. A completely sold-out hall. Isn't that the dream scenario of every club?

Tim Zoellner (Consulting) and Michael Günther (Sales) visit TSV Hannover-Burgdorf on match day. They slip into the role of fans and observe the matchday events with a watchful eye. How smoothly does admission work? Are there many clearing cases? Are fans made aware of current ticketing or merchandising offers? How does the fan journey feel?

In the context of club consulting, the key question is: How can we sell more tickets together? For this purpose, an analysis of the spectators and the products offered is carried out individually for each club. A data-based evaluation provides the basis for creative ideas. In addition, various ticketing processes are examined. Where can time be saved or processes digitised?

We spoke with the managing director of the "RECKEN", Eike-Christian Korsen and the ticketing manager Tobias Niessner about Sports.Consulting at their club.
 

What insights did you gain from the club consulting?

Eike Korsen: It was nice to hear from our ticketing partner that we are indeed on the right track in many areas. In recent years, we have invested a lot of effort and work in various processes, which has so far been difficult to implement due to the accompanying circumstances. The confirmation of the chosen path from external sources encourages us to continue just as much as the increasing number of spectators. In addition, the club consultancy has also provided exciting and valuable input for the team members not directly responsible for ticketing, which will pay off especially in B2C marketing and ticket marketing. 

Tobias Niessner: The joint exchange and input from the club consultancy was also extremely valuable for our entire back-office team. We could only benefit from the expertise that the CTS Eventim Sports team has at its disposal, thanks to its diverse networking with a wide range of clubs and associations. Thanks to the "view from the outside", we were able to break up deadlocked processes that had crept in over the course of time and to make adjustments in the short term in order to positively develop the topics of ticket sales and activation and to anchor them in all areas of our office - even outside of the core area of ticketing. After all, the achievement of set ticketing goals is only possible together and independent of divisions, and for this reason alone, the club consultation was worth its weight in gold.
 

How was the atmosphere? Did you feel well "advised"? 

Tobias Niessner: From the very beginning, both during the initial visit and the subsequent workshop, the atmosphere was very relaxed, open and honest as well as constructive at all times - always with the goal in mind of how we can improve procedures and processes in order to continuously and sustainably increase the utilisation of our venue again. We always found a sympathetic ear when we had questions and received constructive and solution-oriented feedback on possible problems within a very short time - be it around the on-site visits or afterwards. In short: it couldn't have been better!

Eike Korsen: I can only agree. The cooperation was very trusting and fun for everyone involved. We opened up, which is not always easy when it comes to supposedly critical issues. In return, we were received by the club consulting team with the feeling that the team around CTS Eventim Sports shares our own ambition as if it were their own club. This definitely strengthened our desire and motivation for future success.

How did you prepare yourselves?

Tobias Niessner: The preparation for the club consultation was actually manageable for us as a club in advance and largely focused on self-reflection. Where do we stand? What challenges do we currently face and what are our prospects? What are the framework conditions we can work with? Where do we see potential for optimisation and need input? 

Eike Korsen: We tried to answer these questions honestly ourselves in advance and to provide the consulting team with realistic recommendations for action tailored to our local conditions. Our work will now really start after the presentation of the results and the joint discussion within the framework of the association consultation.  

What short-term results have you already seen? 

Eike Korsen: One very clear result could already be seen immediately after the workshop and could be read in the faces of the staff team. After the limited sense of achievement of the last few years, the workshop and the feedback that we are basically on the right track has released noticeable motivation. 

Tobias Niessner: We have already implemented various measures in the short term. Whether system-related optimisations, an individual ticket URL, the expansion and opening of the ticket sales channels, adjustments in the communication strategy and external presentation or the topic of "self-promotion on match day" - we were able to turn certain screws in a short time based on club consulting. The first developments are definitely going in the right direction and the number of spectators is currently stabilising at a higher basic level. 

Eike Korsen: In concrete terms, we have already implemented a family match day, for example. We took the ideas for this from the workshop. For the home match against ASV Hamm, there were not only cheaper tickets for families and young fans, but also many activities before kick-off. Our goal was to appeal to the new generation of young fans and to provide the media with more attractive content than just the match. Both worked very well.

Tobias Niessner: Now it's time to build on this and to tackle and implement further ideas.