26th September 2023

For over 20 years, the Telekom Baskets Bonn have been an integral part of Bonn's sporting identity. With their numerous participations in the play-offs of the Basketball Bundesliga, they have shown that they are one of the top teams in German basketball. Although it was not enough to win the BBL title this season either, their six runner-up finishes are proof of their consistency and performance. In addition, the Baskets have achieved something historic by winning the Champions League - the first title in the club's history and, what's more, a title that no German team has ever been able to win.

The Baskets Bonn have been working with the EVENTIM.Tixx system since 2009. At that time, a season was set up in the Tixx back office for the first time. At the same time, the ticket online shop, for example, which today accounts for more than 75 percent of ticket sales, played virtually no role at that time. Fans either bought their tickets in advance at the office or at the box office. 

But times have changed, and the key word here, as so often, is "digitalisation". That's why we have expanded our partnership in recent years and grown together. From the launch of the first Baskets online shop, to the introduction of Tixx merchandising and the Tixx CRM system in 2019, to the expansion of the ticketing offer to include the secondary market feature Tixx Clubsale last year.

Ticket sales increased by more than 150 per cent compared to the previous year

The past 2022/23 season was the most successful season in the club's history for the Baskets, both from a sporting and a ticketing perspective. Although tickets were in high demand shortly after the corona-related closures were lifted in 2022, sales increased by another 150 per cent last season.

"Despite the enormously high demand for tickets, we have never had any problems with advance sales thanks to the powerful Tixx software. In particular, tickets for the BBL playoffs have been snatched out of our hands - often all tickets were sold within five minutes."
Helene Wiedlich, Head of Ticketing at Telekom Baskets Bonn

Telekom Baskets Bonn inspire fans and break merchandising sales record

It is not only the number of tickets sold that shows how much the Telekom Baskets Bonn thrilled their fans last season. When you attend a game in the Telekom Dome, you notice several things: The fans enter the hall well before kick-off and ten minutes before the game even the VIP area is empty - no fan wants to miss even one minute of the game. Everywhere you go, you see visitors running around in fan clothing, from scarves to jerseys to fisherman's hats. This trend is also noticeable in the online fan shop: After the Basketball Champions League victory, a new record turnover was achieved.

"It's nice to see so many fans with our fan articles in the Dome. On the one hand, the fan articles are available in our fan shop directly in the hall, but the online shop has opened up completely different possibilities for us. Through the connection to ticketing, for example, our season ticket holders automatically receive a discount when they log into the fan shop with their access data."
Sebastian Andre, Head ofMerchandising at Telekom Baskets Bonn

The fan in the focus of every digitisation decision

The matches of Telekom Baskets Bonn have become an event that is eagerly awaited by fans and basketball enthusiasts in the region, but also throughout the country. Due to the success of the team as well as versatile ticket promotions and the fan proximity of the club officials, many games are sold out. 

To ensure that no seat in the hall remains unoccupied, Telekom Baskets Bonn offer their fans two options to pass on tickets digitally to third parties if they themselves are unable to attend.

Option 1: Resale via Tixx-Clubsale: If a fan is prevented from attending, he can place his ticket on the integrated secondary market in the ticket online shop. As soon as the ticket has been bought by another fan, the original ticket buyer will get his money back.

Option 2: Passing on to friends and acquaintances: If the fan knows someone who may use the ticket for him or her, he or she can forward the ticket to that person in the "My Account" section of the Baskets' ticket online shop. In this case, the new ticket holder does not need their own account, but can save the ticket to their Apple or Google Wallet via a link or download it as a PDF.

From the Black Friday campaign, to season ticket information, to the matchday survey

The data collected through the sales of tickets and fan articles, both online and offline, are aggregated in Tixx-CRM. With the help of this information, fans can be addressed with campaigns in a particularly target group-specific manner. In addition to the classic newsletter, the Telekom Baskets Bonn regularly send out matchday surveys, promotional mailings and inform their season ticket holders.

Speaking of season ticket holders: Every fan who owns a season ticket can consider himself lucky. The demand for season tickets for the coming season was so high that the sale of new season tickets had to be stopped.