The Miami Heat app.
The Miami Heat were one game away from making the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs last spring and ushering in the era of mobile-only ticketing for entry into AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami. But by falling short of the postseason, it gave the Heat six additional months to educate its fans—with one of the largest season-ticket holder bases in the league—on what comes with the first preseason game on Oct. 1: mobile-only ticketing.
“We want to continue to be on the forefront of technology, which is part of the ethos of the NBA,” said Matthew Jafarian, Heat vice president of digital strategy and innovation. “We understand the importance of technology, and it is a convenience for our fans. It is easier to get into the building, easier to manage tickets and easier to send tickets to friends. We think it is the future and want to be first.”
First, they are.
Michael McCullough, Heat executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said fans have heard that message loud and clear ever since April and this offseason has allowed the Heat to hold a variety of events that fans could gain entry to only via the Miami Heat app as a way to continue the education.
The Heat has offered mobile ticketing since the 2015-16 season and saw a 200-percent jump in voluntary use last season, with one in three fans accessing the venue via the mobile process. To coincide with the new mobile-only focus, the Heat have rolled out a new proprietary app that includes the ability to order concessions from the app and contains a mobile wallet feature that enables fans to purchase merchandise, premium dining and concessions from within the app and then earn 6 percent of all purchases back in the form of arena bucks.
“We are trying to drive people to adopt our app technology,” McCullough said. “It is easy and the best way for us to communicate. It isn’t the only way, but we certainly think it is the best way and most convenient.”
Along with accessing mobile tickets via the Heat app, Jafarian said that fans can use the Ticketmaster app for individual tickets, and there is a website option. “We love that our fans organically adopted mobile in droves last season and are making the push across the board,” Jafarian said. “Mobile ticketing provides fans with guaranteed ticket authenticity, easy access to the arena using the phone in their pocket—no more scrambling for a printer before the game—and the easiest way to transfer to a friend or resell online.”
While the Heat certainly wants to push the concept that using the team app is to their benefit, with everything from the arena bucks to fans accessing timely news and notes about the team to the ability to easily transfer tickets to friends, there’s also a benefit to the Heat.
“From a business standpoint, utilizing the wallet and Heat app has its benefits for us, from data capture and having a full 360-degree view of who is coming into our building to knowing what those fans’ preferences are and knowing what their buying habits are,” McCullough said. “It allows us to know more and deliver a better, more complete experience because we are able to capture that data and offer things that make sense to them based on attendance habits. We will know more about our fans, with the intent to serve them, the more they use the app.”
Having a relatively high percentage of fans engaged in the season-ticket program—the Heat doesn’t disclose the actual breakdown—allows Miami to make the most of folks buying into the mobile experience. But, as with any new program, it doesn’t come without a struggle.
“No matter how big or small your (season-ticket) base is, no matter how big or small your change is, you will have some pockets of slow adopters,” McCullough said. But the more the Heat have introduced the concept and explained it, he said the “pockets of resistance” have diminished. Miami attacked the concept with extra offseason events and activities for season-ticket holders specifically to use app-only entry.
“It was with the idea that we want to get them used to downloading the app and utilizing the app to actually enter an event, and then we can have our app squad to work specifically with them,” he said. “We have targeted those slow adopters and have been staging events and activities specifically for them, so by the time the season rolls around, there is a much higher comfort level accessing and unlocking features.”
Jafarian said it comes down to education. With the massive increase in adoption last year, the data showed that when a fan switched to mobile ticketing they stayed, a positive sign, especially considering they have no choice starting Oct. 1 at AmericanAirlines Arena.