Wasps has agreed a four-year partnership with ticketing solutions provider AXS which the English Premiership rugby union club says will lead to the introduction of a market-leading platform at its Ricoh Arena home.
With immediate effect, AXS becomes the Exclusive Ticketing Partner for Wasps games at the Coventry stadium, as well as those of Superleague club Wasps Netball and concerts, exhibitions and other live events held at the venue.
AXS will implement state-of-the-art technology solutions in a bid to ensure a frictionless purchasing and entry experience for ticket holders. These new innovations will include Fansight, AXS’ virtual reality seat maps which will provide an opportunity to choose seats online and view the whole of the stadium in high definition before purchase.
Stuart Cain, managing director at Wasps, said: “Having the right ticketing solutions in place is crucial regardless of the event. We need to make it intuitive to book a ticket and we’ve worked closely with AXS to come up with an enhanced online experience that beats anything else we’ve seen in the market.”
AXS will be providing Wasps with AXS Mobile ID, its identity-based digital ticketing platform, allowing fans to buy tickets and enter the stadium using their mobile devices for the first time and providing Wasps with better information about who is actually in attendance.
Also being introduced is ‘Fan Account,’ a new portal that allows ticket purchasers to create a friends and family group, giving them permission to purchase on their behalf and view their ‘Buzz Points’ – loyalty tokens which can be accrued when buying tickets and merchandise.
Fan Account will also have branded sponsorship areas for key sponsors, enabling them to sign into their own portals and manage their ticket allocations. This feature will also be available to community rugby clubs, pubs and societies that partner with Wasps for cashback on ticketing sales.
Part of this new package also includes AXS Intelligence, which is a dedicated real-time business intelligence platform providing detailed insight and analytics into the data surrounding ticket purchases.
“This partnership with Wasps is a major landmark as we move to expand our fan-friendly ticketing experience to more venues in the UK,” AXS senior vice-president and managing director for Europe, Rob Byrne, said. “AXS technology puts the fans back at the centre of the experience – where they should be.”