After a long period of silence, as the sports feast rekindled offline, the fans' fervor erupted like a volcano: CBA tickets were snapped up, Sudirman Cup final tickets were sold out in seconds, and the Chinese Super League ushered in an unprecedented "ticket-buying frenzy" after resumption of the home-and-away system.
April 15, the new season of the Chinese Super League will be the grand opening, the opening ceremony will be held in the newly completed stadium, when the hosts Beijing Guoan and Meizhou Hakka will start a battle. April 11, Beijing Guoan launched the first round of loose tickets on sale, just five minutes, all the booths tickets sold out.
Fans' enthusiasm grows despite general increase in club annual ticket prices
According to incomplete statistics, 14 clubs in the Chinese Super League have introduced annual tickets for home games. Despite the general increase in the price of annual tickets, the enthusiasm of the fans to buy tickets has not subsided, but more vigorous.
While tickets for the opening match were sold out, Beijing Guoan's annual ticket sales also hit a new record. on March 29, Guoan launched the sale of annual tickets for its home matches. the prices of general tickets ranged from 2,400 yuan to 950 yuan. Prices for regular tickets ranged from 2,400 yuan to 950 yuan, and there was also a parent-child ticket that was half-price for children under the age of 12. Within 15 minutes, Guoan sold more than 10,000 sets of annual tickets. As of press time, Guoan home 25,000 "new industrial stadium" annual ticket has basically sold out.
Beijing Guoan returns to action this season. The internal stands of the new stadium are divided into four tiers, with the seating capacity increased from 65,000 to 68,000, and the first row of fans is only 8.5 meters away from the stadium, which will provide fans with the ultimate viewing experience.
Tianjin Jinmen Tiger annual tickets for the new season are divided into 980 yuan and 580 yuan, and the sales exceeded 1 million yuan in one hour on line. Shandong Taishan set of tickets of 3600 yuan, 1600 yuan and 1200 yuan, the sales were hot and unusual, and the one-day sales exceeded the total sales of all annual tickets for the 2019 season. To meet the demand of fans, the club is studying to increase the number of annual tickets.
It is worth mentioning that clubs still need to digest a large number of "inventory" tickets for the new season. According to Wang Wei, senior reporter of Football Daily, in the community of sports business themed conversation program, due to the change of the Chinese Super League to the match system, some of the pre-sale of quarterly tickets and package tickets before the 2020 season have been invalidated. Many fans have not opted for refunds and retained their relevant rights. Therefore, these package entitlements should be re-realized after the resumption of the home-and-away system. Shanghai Shenhua's latest announcement shows that all holders of 2020 season packages and joint tickets can use valid payment vouchers to exchange for 2023 season home packages and joint tickets.
Sports events see "revenge buying" by fans
After three years of hibernation, sporting events are returning offline, and the enthusiasm of the audience is surging like a beast.
The 2023 Badminton Sudirman Cup will be held from May 14 to 21 at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center Arena. Tickets for the final day sold out instantly. One fan recalled that while tickets for the 2018 Sudirman Cup in Nanjing were easy to come by, this year he was only able to grab an out-of-the-way ticket.
The CBA league also ushered in the return of home and away games after the fans of the "retaliatory purchase of tickets". Guangdong Hongyuan, for example, on February 16, Hongyuan tickets sold out quickly. Not long ago, Xiamen CBA All-Star Weekend tickets were in short supply, Liaoning men's basketball playoff tickets were sold out in just two hours, the first game tickets were snapped up, and Dongguan tickets were sold out.
In addition, tickets for the 2023 Diving World Cup have been snapped up in Xi'an. Tickets for Saturday, April 15 at 15:30 and the final on April 16 were sold out all day, while the table tennis WTT Macau Championships, which will kick off on April 17, has sold out for the semi-finals and final day.
Domestic events are hot, and international sporting events are also seeing a rush for tickets.On April 11, the NBA announced a record-breaking season in terms of total attendance, average attendance, attendance and ticket sellouts. This season, the league sold out 791 games, breaking the record of 760 games in the 2018-19 season; the league's stadium attendance reached 97%, a record high. In addition, total league attendance reached 22,234,502 this season, breaking the 2017-18 record of 22,124,590.
Even though the Women's World Cup doesn't kick off for another three months, ticket sales are rapidly approaching an all-time high. The opening match was relocated from the Sydney Football Stadium to the 83,500-seat Australia Stadium, which has a capacity of 45,500, to accommodate the demand for spectators.1.13 million tickets were sold for the 2019 Women's World Cup, and foreign media are predicting that more than 1.5 million could be sold this year.
Global Sports Event Ticket Revenue to Reach $29 Billion by 2023
Returning fans will bring more ticket revenue to the sports market in 2023. According to a survey by Statista, a comprehensive global data platform, global sports ticket sales are expected to bring in nearly $29 billion in 2023, up 6 percent from $27 billion in 2022.More than 307 million people worldwide will buy sports tickets in 2023, up from 308 million in 2022. By 2027, that number will rise to more than 317 million.
Global sports event ticket revenues total more than $20 billion in 2019, data shows. After a two-year epidemic, European and American events are the first to return offline, with sports ticket sales soaring to $27.1 billion in 2022. That figure is expected to grow by more than $1 billion in 2023 as the global epidemic opens up further and fully, reaching nearly $29 billion globally.
Looking at different countries and regions, the United States is expected to generate more than $13 billion in ticket revenue in 2023, making it the largest single sports market in the world. The United Kingdom will be the second largest market for sporting events, with revenues of $1.83 billion, while China ranks third with projected revenues of $1.82 billion, just $10 million less than the United Kingdom, followed by Japan and Canada with $1.15 billion and $1.11 billion.
It is important to note that major tournaments may be more concerned about fans returning to the field of play than the rise in gate receipts. Over the past three years, the CBA and Chinese Super League have only been able to be organized in a match system due to the epidemic. Although the CSL was the first to try to restore the home-and-away system in 2022, only a handful of clubs allowed spectators and strictly limited the number of attendees. As a result, the league's box office revenues, overall commercial value and comprehensive influence plummeted.
Fortunately, with the full opening of the epidemic, the main games are back offline and fans are back in the stadium. Rather than feeling alienated by the extended period of time they were unable to attend the matches live, they snapped up tickets time and time again to show their love for the game. This is undoubtedly a great start for the tournament, and the re-warmed atmosphere of the grounds will once again ignite sponsors and ultimately put the commercial value and impact of the tournament back on track.
