Perfect preparation for Wimbledon
A look behind the scenes at the BOSS OPEN and bett1open by ecotrans
5 July 2023
The final weekend of the BOSS OPEN in Stuttgart is also the qualifying weekend of the bett1open presented by ecotrans Group in Berlin. The final weekend in Berlin is also the qualifying weekend for the MALLORCA CHAMPIONSHIPS, which, as the name suggests, take place in Mallorca.
A tennis tournament usually lasts nine days - from Saturday to Sunday. e|motion sports GmbH is the organiser of several tennis tournaments in Germany, Austria and Spain. The tournaments in Stuttgart, Berlin and Mallorca take place between the French Open and Wimbledon - as an official partner of Wimbledon, e|motion is one of the few grass court tournament organisers worldwide. For the players, an opportunity to play a grass court tournament before Wimbledon.
Teamwork and highest organisational and logistical performance
For the e|motion team, the three tournaments in a row mean the highest organisational and logistical achievements. Each tournament is individual and has a different history, just like their locations in Berlin, Stuttgart and Mallorca. The competitions in Stuttgart and Mallorca are ATP tournaments, whereas Berlin is a WTA tournament. In the past ten years of our partnership, we have grown steadily together. Starting with the tournament in Stuttgart to three tennis series in 2023.
At the beginning of our partnership, the EVENTIM.Tixx product consisted of a SaaS ticketing solution. In the meantime, a product has become a product platform that covers the modules CRM, campaign management, merchandising, ticketing and membership management. In addition to the ticketing software, e|motion also uses the Tixx CRM as well as the campaign management connected to it in order to advance the digitalisation of tournaments step by step.
"For us as organisers, the topic of fan loyalty is a challenge before each new tournament season. The regular data analysis helps us to keep an eye on our customers so that we can implement our ticketing campaigns in a targeted manner. Likewise, the analysis forms the planning basis for our communication in order to push ticket sales not only in the decisive phases."
Matthias von Grabowiecki, Head of Ticketing e|motion sports GmbH
Online rate increased by 250
In recent years, the proportion of those who buy their tickets online has risen to 84% of ticket buyers (click here to go to the BOSS OPEN online shop). This is 250% more than at the first edition of the MercedesCup in 2014.
Nowadays, ticket buyers are kept up to date on player announcements via mailings in the run-up to the tournaments and those who have bought in previous years but have not yet bought a ticket for the upcoming tournament are reminded that they can purchase their tickets in the online shop.
Digital sponsor tickets for forwarding
In general, a lot has changed in the (ticketing) handling of the tournaments in recent years: The sponsors no longer receive printed tickets that they have to distribute, but can easily manage their ticket allotments themselves online and forward them to the people who are coming to the event. For the tournament on Mallorca, only digital tickets are offered in the online shop - after purchase, these can either be saved in the Apple or Google Wallet, downloaded as a PDF or forwarded to friends and acquaintances.
On-site support by Tixx-Consulting
In addition to providing the ticketing, CRM and campaign management software, we are also physically on site at the tournaments. On the one hand, to help operationally with setting up and training the box office and scanning staff. Because despite the high online rate, ticket purchases are still offered via the box office. In addition to the box office equipment, EVENTIM.Tixx also provides the hand-held scanners. These will be individually configured per tournament to cover every application. From regular admission, to scanning VIP authorisations, to parking spaces. Via the webview of the EVENTIM.Access scanning software, it is possible to see at any time how many people are currently in which area, how high the admissions per minute are and what percentage of capacity has already been reached.
Advice and an objective view from outside
In addition to the operational deployment, we supported the bett1open presented by ecotrans Group in Berlin for the first time this year with the service of "organiser consulting". Both at an appointment in the run-up and during the tournament, optimisation points for the fan experience and marketing were worked out. An external and thus objective view often helps to uncover issues that are not noticed due to one's own operational blindness. Through the organiser consultation, some topics could already be implemented in the short term this year; for further strategic topics, an appointment is planned in late summer.
After the tournament is before the tournament - the Super Summer Early Booking Discount
As much as the focus is always on the current event - after the tournament is always before the tournament. The final weekend of this year's BOSS OPEN was completely sold out. To make the best possible use of this euphoria, the BOSS OPEN started the pre-sale for the 2024 tournament already one day after the final.
This year's visitors will benefit from an exclusive super summer early booking discount. Furthermore, they will receive a reservation for the courts for which they had bought tickets this year. This reservation is stored in the "My Account" area of the online shop and can be converted by the customers themselves.