Ticketing Sales Manager
France
Posted 3 months ago
Job Description for Ticketing Sales Manager in the Marketing & Commercial Department
Company: EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby)
Job Title: Ticketing Sales Manager
Reporting to: Head of Commercial
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Starting Date: November 1st, 2024 Duration: Permanent Position
Background:
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is the organiser of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. EPCR’s mission is to create outstanding rugby experiences for all key stakeholders, including leagues, clubs, players, match officials, unions, fans, broadcast and commercial partners, communities and the media. Established in 2014 with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, EPCR has the following shareholders: Federation Francaise de Rugby (FFR), Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR), Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), Rugby Football Union (RFU), Scottish Rugby (SRU), Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), Premiership Rugby (PRL) and United Rugby Championship (URC). The Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup tournaments feature clubs which have qualified on merit from their respective domestic leagues – the Gallagher Premiership, the TOP 14 and the United Rugby Championship.
EPCR is seeking to appoint a collaborative and committed individual to join and contribute to the success of our Marketing & Commercial Team in growing the value of our blue-chip club rugby competitions. Reporting to the Head of Commercial, the role is mainly aimed at maximizing ticketing sales revenues for the Investec Champions Cup Semi Finals and EPCR Finals Weekends. As part of this growth strategy, the individual will be responsible for launching and managing EPCR’s new owned and operated ticketing platform, including the appointment of a service provider to establish an in-house ticketing solution for EPCR’s owned events. The role will also involve acting as a liaison for clubs across both competitions, assisting with the commercial delivery of our partners’ rights and supporting the wider business with ticketing operations and hospitality programmes. This will include assisting with the distribution and fulfilment of EPCR’s ticketing and hospitality inventory across the pool and knockout stages as well as working as the organisation’s project lead for the semi-finals and finals ticketing operations, ticketing sales strategy and hospitality programmes.
The position will be located in the EPCR Head Office in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will involve occasional weekend work and travel across Europe.
Main Responsibilities:
- Work with the selected venues for the two Investec Champions Cup semi-final fixtures and the EPCR Finals weekend (EPCR Challenge Cup and Investec Champions Cup Finals) to:
- Lead on the pricing, scaling, manifest creation, stadium configuration and sales forecasting
- Lead on improving and managing the customer journey, data management and establishing and maintaining high levels of customer service and resolving customer service issues where required through the establishing of EPCR’s owned and operated ticketing platform with a third-party provider
- Lead on ticket & hospitality sales strategy and revenue reporting, any reporting required to assist financial reconciliation and/or the maintenance of all auditing procedures
- Lead on the maintenance of ticket inventories and placement of all ticket holds
- Lead implementation of new own EPCR Ticketing Platform across all streams including;
- Customer Service: coordination, management and response to all questions and complaints both in the build up to events and on match-days
- Ticketing operations: Work alongside stadiums to establish layout, products, kills, inventory management and customer journey
- Sales & Reporting: Develop on-sale timeline to keep demand and sales high, coordinating with marketing teams of EPCR, stadium and stakeholders to promote events, lead on reporting of sales trends
- Marketing: Work with marketing teams of EPCR, stadium and stakeholders to develop narrative and sales message for fans.
- Lead on ticketing and hospitality projects across both Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup during the pool stages and knockout stages:
- Acting as Club Liaison to ensure ticketing and hospitality delivery of EPCR’s Competitions Participation Agreement (PA);
- Building strong and effective relationships and engaging both internally, with EPCR colleagues, and externally, with the leagues, clubs, broadcasters, partners and suppliers to assist with the effective delivery of the competitions.
- Managing and delivering all EPCR partner and stakeholder requests for tickets and hospitality across all pool and knockout stage games in collaboration with the 42 competing clubs and/or host venues where applicable.
- The role requires the management of 1 direct report (Ticketing Executive)
Skills & Experience
- Minimum 5 years professional experience in a sports business, entertainment venue or promoter environment.
- Expertise and knowledge of all facets of ticketing sales and delivery for major events.
- Experience of establishing or working on an in-house ticketing platform for events to a similar standard and scale (e.g. Ticketmaster, Secutix, Tixserve, Eventim, Tick & Live).
- Proven knowledge and ability to work with commercial stakeholders and sponsors to deliver their requirements.
- Strong organisational and project management skills and an ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment, with diplomacy and flexibility.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ability to establish and maintain strong interpersonal relationships
- Self-motivated individual, able to work independently but aware of when to seek guidance and advice.
- Proven creative and innovative approach to problem solving.
- Knowledge of rugby and its major stakeholders in the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa preferable.
- Proficiency with Microsoft and other standard IT applications and tools.
- Languages:
- Excellent command of written and spoken English and French.
- Additional languages, such as Italian or Spanish, would be an advantage.