More than 700 events · 14m room nights · US$12bn GVA · 49 countries · 180 cities · in the past 12 months
- Case study · Sports and major events
British MotoGP: a controlled test of how tickets sell
- MotoGP British Grand Prix
Ticket sales, measured against a control
A case study
Step 1: The brief
Sell 50% of the tickets for British MotoGP, in direct contrast to the legacy ticketing system that held the other 50%.
Maximise yield and bring sales forward to help the event’s cash flow.
Run all British MotoGP social media and be the voice of MotoGP in the UK, within the rights holder’s guidelines.
Where the upside sat
More than 90% of tickets were priced within a narrow £20 band, which left little room for choice or yield.
High-end tickets sold out early while mid-tier categories had headroom.
The promoter, the circuit and the tourism bodies each held part of the customer picture.
What changed between the two halves of the inventory?
Takeaway
Comparing this year’s sales with last year’s would have mixed the new system up with everything else that changed: the calendar, the riders, the weather. So both systems sold the same race on the same weekend, and the gap between them is the measure.
Step 2: Pricing, product and position
We analysed historical sales to find where buyers were paying less than the ticket was worth to them, then ran multivariate tests on price, product and position.
New pricing tiers were introduced across the range, aligned to demand at each level, with premium categories priced to their real demand.
Hospitality, camping and local hotel packages were offered alongside the ticket, with messaging built for each customer group.
Early-bird pricing and bundles were used in the quieter weeks to bring sales forward.
Takeaway
Most tickets had sat inside a £20 band. Wider tiers, priced to demand in each category, are where the extra yield came from.
Two ticketing systems, one race weekend
Step 3: One customer record, and a voice for the race
Data from the promoter, the circuit and partner organisations was unified into a single customer record.
A 24/7 social presence, live race-weekend coverage and targeted campaigns drove sales and built the audience for the next edition.
Customer service ran round the clock, with a response time under four minutes.
We worked with government tourism agencies to bring in international visitors and extend the weekend’s value to the region.
The ticket purchase was redesigned and the platform built to handle demand spikes in peak sales windows.
Takeaway
The promoter kept the database and the workflows, so next year’s sales start from a known customer list.
The result
Against the control, the Living Lab half delivered £383,139 more in ticket and hospitality revenue. Average pre-event spend reached £83 per guest, yield rose by £19 per user, and acquisition cost stayed under £2.
A second engagement went on to optimise the host nation agreement.
Half the inventory on the legacy system, half with us, at Silverstone on the same weekend: £383,139 apart.