On Friday, November 1, Norsk Toppfotball (the association of the Norwegian top league football clubs) and TicketCo signed a framework agreement for the two top leagues in Norway. The five-year agreement has an estimated total value of 90 million GBP, making TicketCo the supreme ticketing player in Norwegian top football.
“We have been looking forward to this day ever since we started working with our first football club – Sogndal – back in 2015,” said CEO Kåre Bottolfsen at TicketCo. “At that time we decided to win Norwegian football, club by club. Today, both series leader Molde and the two cup finalists Viking and Haugesund are TicketCo customers, and we have about half the top tier and a number of the clubs in the league below on our books. Now several new elite series clubs will join, so this is a huge milestone for us,” he said.
Ten different suppliers were evaluated by Norsk Toppfotball before they concluded that Norwegian company TicketCo provided the most compelling total solution, and confirmed TicketCo will be its ticket supplier for the next five years.
“Through the annual handling of close to 2 million tickets at our clubs each year, it is obvious that the ticket function must be forward-looking and customer-friendly. The fact that we are now establishing this as a common system is incredibly important. That way we can always offer the best service to our fans. We are very much looking forward to this collaboration and have great expectations,” said Leif Øverland, CEO of Norsk Toppfotball.
When choosing a joint ticket system, Norsk Toppfotball had a major focus on the customer journey for supporters. In TicketCo, they discovered a very customer-friendly solution. A common system for all the clubs now is now being developed, with input from the league.
“This is a very important step in the customer journey for our fans and supporters, and helps make buying tickets and season tickets as easy as possible. In addition, this system gives us increased customer insight and fits in well with our other common systems, which means that we can help make the experience even better and more targeted,” said Media Manager in Norsk Toppfotball, Thomas Torjusen.
“With Molde at the top of the table, Viking and Haugesund in the cup final and this contract with NTF signed, we can clearly state that this fall has been a dream come true for TicketCo. Now we are excited about what ripple effect it will have internationally,” said Bottolfsen.
CSO Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg, who established TicketCo together with Kåre Bottolfsen in 2013, added:
“Football is a huge industry, but at the same time it is no bigger than clubs watching what colleagues in other countries do. Our agreement with NTF has already been noticed by the clubs we are in dialogue with in England, Scotland and Sweden. The issues vary slightly from country to country, but in broad terms the challenges are the same across national borders. That is why we believe that the NTF cooperation will be important for us in these countries as well.
“Through the collaboration with NTF, we will add tremendous value to the clubs at the league level, and this is very relevant for other leagues both inside and outside Europe. Norway is also well ahead of development, which makes us the perfect shopping window for the rest of the world.”
Michalsen Moberg explained the wider benefits of the league partnership.
“Take for example something as simple as away tickets,” he said. “This is hugely labour intensive for the clubs. When most of the clubs will now use the same system, each club now can sell digital away tickets for their own matches through their own sales system – including seat maps and tagging of each ticket in the CRM system.
“One effect of this will also be that all the supporters get the same buying experience. This should not be underestimated. For example, we sell tickets to the League One club Wycombe Wanderers, and we see on Twitter how the away fans react with shock when they experience how easy it is to buy tickets for their matches compared to the matches of the clubs they follow.
“In addition to these benefits, then price of course is a significant factor. Together you are strong, and when the clubs join forces like they now have done in Norway, they can negotiate very good deals. At our end, we have developed custom-built solutions for league agreements, and we can meet the leagues with a product that is very favourable in terms of both price and labour-saving features,” concludes Michalsen Moberg.