For data-driven venues, the biggest pain point is often the ticket buyer vs. the ticker user (the ghost fan). So, what exactly is a ghost fan?
Ghost Fan /ɡōst fan/ noun, 1. An individual who attends an event using a ticket purchased by another person (e.g., a friend, family member, etc.), thereby remaining unidentified by the organization. 2. A physical attendee who generates revenue inside the venue (concessions, merchandise) but exists as a “data blind spot” in the organization’s CRM. 3. The 60-75% of an audience that cannot be retargeted for future events because their contact information was never captured.
How can you stop letting the ticketing platform own your relationship? Here is how to capture data on every head in the house, not just the purchaser.
Let’s review the math of a sold-out game at your stadium:
15,000 total seats. The game is sold out.
But, then you look at your CRM after the event…
2,000 new contacts added to your CRM.
How is that possible? It’s because the average transaction size for a game is roughly 3 to 4 tickets per order. You get the data for the Purchaser (the person who buys the tickets), but the other three people - friends, spouses, kids - are Ghost Fans.
These fans walk through your gates, buy your beer, watch the game, and leave without you ever knowing their name, email address, or team preferences. You are effectively operating with a 75% data blindness rate.
In today’s fan-centric world, you cannot afford to let 13,000 people walk out of the gates anonymously. Those are lost opportunities to sell a ticket to next month’s rivalry game or family event.
You can’t force the purchaser to hand over their friends’ emails at the point of sale. The friction is too high.
Instead, you must capture that data inside the venue by offering value in exchange for identity. This is where venue-specific mobile strategy becomes your best data capture tool.
Here are three ways to de-anonymize the Ghost Fan:
The Fast Lane Incentive (Operational)
No one wants to wait in line for merchandise or concessions.
📱The Play – offer “Mobile Express Pickup” for food and beverage, available only through your app.
👻 The Capture – to use the service, the Ghost Fan must download the app and create a profile.
⭐ The Result – you capture their identity and their purchase history (e.g., “Prefers local beer”).
Team store lines are notoriously long and no one wants to miss a touchdown.
📱The Play – during halftime, send a push notification or display a QR code on the big screen to “scan to buy the limited edition Team Poster – delivered to your seat or ready for express pickup.”
👻 The Capture – the fan creates an account to buy the item.
⭐ The Result – you now know this fan spends money on premium items and is a merchandise purchaser.
Everyone wants a better view.
📱The Play – “Want to be on the sideline for the fourth quarter? Enter the digital lottery now.”
👻 The Capture – entry requires a name, email address, and phone number.
⭐ The Result – you build a list of highly engaged fans who value premium experiences, which are perfect leads for future VIP packages.
Once you capture these Ghost Fans, you stop relying on the team’s success. You can start marketing the venue experience. Think about the natural follow-ups. Did they buy a mixed drink? Email them about the Whiskey Tasting event next month. Did they use the mobile app for parking? Send them an “VIP Parking” pass offer for their next visit.
Stop renting your audience from the ticketing companies. Start building your own database of active, local sports fans. And make it hard for your audience to not only be a Ghost Fan, but make it to where they don’t want to be one.
FanThreeSixty can help make all your ghosts disappear.