2015-09-15 Infrastructure and Services Committee Att 2 to Item 4 The J Service Review 2014-15

                                                                     Service Review 2014-15
                                                                                                    The J

Over the past 12-18 months, the number of online ticket sales has increased, reducing the burden on
Reception/Box Office staff and associated staffing requirements.

The low internal ticket sale (7%) is a result of a progressive change in strategy since the opening of
The J. The focus under SCC shifted considerably from a high level of events at Council’s risk, to a
lower risk and lower cost strategy where promoters are encouraged to hire the venue at their own
risk.

 OPPORTUNITY – Consider increasing seed funding for internal entrepreneurial events
 (2015/16 financial year budget). Potential for greater profits: however greater risk. This would
 also provide an insight into the types of events that audiences are likely to attend.


Internal ticket sales and ticketing for promoter events requires a more in depth review, as ticketing is
not the only component for these events. A full profit and loss analysis is required for each event
taking into consideration other elements such as bar, venue hire, and marketing, etc.

Ticketing is currently an option offered to hirers of
The J and is delivered in-house through JTix                 Ticketing for events at The J
(SABO software). It is not compulsory for hirers to
use the JTix service. When a promoter chooses to
use JTix, The J retains exclusivity over ticketing for
the event during the sales period. This means that
                                                                                            Used Jtix
tickets cannot be sold through another source. For              4, 19%
the period 1 January – 30 September 2014, 81% of
the 21 ticketed events at The J used JTix. The
                                                                                            Used other
19% who used other ticketing services were                                17, 81%           ticketing
predominantly community not-for-profit groups
                                                                                            service
selling general admission tickets and were looking
for a lower cost option so they could retain a larger
amount of the ticket price for their event.

10.3.1 Ticketing delivery model
Ticketing service delivery models are complex with a number of different software suppliers in the
market offering varied fee structures and varied levels of administrative control (e.g. able to edit all
ticketing info in-house vs. having to request all changes through the supplier). All reputable ticketing
software providers currently offer online sales.

The industry norm for promoters is that if a box office service is provided by the venue, the onsite box
office is used for ticketing for their event. Exceptions to this tend to be where the event is general
admission only as there are a number of software providers who offer general admission ticketing at
lower prices (e.g. Try Booking, Moshtix).

Venues of similar size to The J with a theatre tend to use SABO rather than the likes of Ticketek and
Ticketmaster (who ticket for venues which have limited box office facilities except on event day e.g.
The Gabba). This is not to say that Ticketek and the like are not still options for The J if a well-
negotiated package is implemented.

Anecdotal evidence from promoters indicates that this onsite service is valued. As highlighted in
section 10.4, the size of the venue can be limiting for promoters due to the number of potential
patrons who can attend an event. This also impacts on pricing for tickets due to the fine balance
between the amount patrons will pay and the profit promoters need to make.




                                                                                                            18