Today, season tickets went on sale for next season. A little early I thought, but people have already begun to call! A lot of season ticket holders renew their same seats every season. This year they are offering some new things including a three month payment plan and military discount. Patrons wishing to change their seats can do so if the seats are available. More seats will become available when everything is released on December 15th. If the current owner of that seat has not renewed by that date, then it is released for anyone to buy. Season ticket holders also receive other cool offers and merchandise including, a riverhounds scarf, 10 percent off in the team store, a season ticket holder kickoff party, pre-sale opportunities for additional u.s open games, playoff games, etc., commemorative ticket booklet, membership card, and entering the stadium 30 minutes earlier than the general public. So, there are lots of perks that come with paying the big bucks for season tickets.
Monday, October 12, 2015
It's been a while....
The Riverhounds season may be over here at the stadium but nothing has slowed down. With multiple high school and college level soccer games going on in a week, the staff manages to stay busy. We also hold football games for local high schools on Friday nights. You wouldn't believe the crowd it draws.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Internship continues
Well, today is the first day of fall semester. In addition to my classes at Point Park, I will be continuing my internship at Highmark Stadium for games and office hours. There have been some changes here in the last few weeks. The previous box office manager has gone on to a different venue and the assistant manager has stepped in. The transition has been smooth due to the assistant managers in depth knowledge of the box office operations. This change will also give me the opportunity to learn more being that now there is one less person in the box offices and more duties to be fulfilled. Time to get busy!
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Game days
On game days, start time for box office staff is 4 hours before game time. This amount of time before the games allows for walk up sales and being that our location is in Station Square and there is a lot of foot traffic, our walk up sales are generally pretty good on game days. An hour before the start of the game is when we tend to get a little busier. The two box offices at Highmark allow for a steady flow of patrons to receive tickets before game time.
A majority of walk up sales on game day are people looking to buy standing room or supporter section tickets. They are the cheapest of our tickets and generally appeal to patrons wanting to hang out at our bar and enjoy the atmosphere other than in the grandstands. During sold out games, standing room is the only ticket we can offer walk up patrons. Standing room tickets allow the ticket holder to stand anywhere in the stadium and enjoy the game. Some people actually prefer this kind of ticket because it allows them access to walk around and not be confined to a seat.
One challenge we face on game days are when patrons who have already purchased tickets would like to find one more tickets next to them for someone they brought to the game last second. During popular games this request is generally not successful but if the game still has a lot of open seats there is a good chance we can find a way to accommodate their request.
The box office closes at the end of half time. At this most point our sales have significantly slowed down and there is no reason for the box office to remain open. We are then responsible to count our sales in cash and credit card receipts to make sure everything matches up!
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Steve Miller Band Concert
Highmark Stadium had the pleasure of hosting its first concert this summer on June 14th. Logistically, there were a lot of things to work out being the first concert. Where to put the stage, how to separate the sections, how to control the flow of people coming into the stadium. I was stationed in the box office during this event and luckily for me we weren't too busy because most of the tickets were sold in advance. Our advanced tickets sales reached about 5,000 and the day of we had a decent amount of walk up sales. Patrons were able to buy through Ticketmaster online, walk up and also Groupon.
We had a few seating options for fans during this event. A majority of the tickets were General admission which were standing room only on the field. A VIP section, which was also standing but closer to the stage. We also had "Gold Circle" tickets which allowed patrons to be seated up front close to the stage and our grandstand was available which gave the fans seats for a cheaper price than the gold circle.
As with all outdoor events, there is always a chance of bad weather and unfortunately for us mother nature was not on our side this night. There was rain and thunderstorms scheduled for this evening and we were just hoping it would hold off. We got through the opening act, and then the sky just opening up, and I mean really opened up. The rain would have been one thing, but there was terrible lightning as well, making it unsafe for patrons to stay on the field. It took some time for our staff to talk to the tour and figure out our next plan of action, along with checking the radar to see if the show could go on.
Being that I was in the box office, I had a lot of questions from the patrons asking about refunds, if the show would be rescheduled or if it would continue that night. Finally, the venue decided it was unsafe to continue with the show. At that time we still didn't know if the show would be rescheduled or if there would be refunds, so we simply had to ask the patrons to call the stadium during office hours to find out at a later date. There were not too many complaints, I think people just wanted to get out of the bad weather.
Lucky for us, the show has been rescheduled! July 11th is the new show date and patrons are able to simply use their original tickets for the upcoming show.
We had a few seating options for fans during this event. A majority of the tickets were General admission which were standing room only on the field. A VIP section, which was also standing but closer to the stage. We also had "Gold Circle" tickets which allowed patrons to be seated up front close to the stage and our grandstand was available which gave the fans seats for a cheaper price than the gold circle.
As with all outdoor events, there is always a chance of bad weather and unfortunately for us mother nature was not on our side this night. There was rain and thunderstorms scheduled for this evening and we were just hoping it would hold off. We got through the opening act, and then the sky just opening up, and I mean really opened up. The rain would have been one thing, but there was terrible lightning as well, making it unsafe for patrons to stay on the field. It took some time for our staff to talk to the tour and figure out our next plan of action, along with checking the radar to see if the show could go on.
Being that I was in the box office, I had a lot of questions from the patrons asking about refunds, if the show would be rescheduled or if it would continue that night. Finally, the venue decided it was unsafe to continue with the show. At that time we still didn't know if the show would be rescheduled or if there would be refunds, so we simply had to ask the patrons to call the stadium during office hours to find out at a later date. There were not too many complaints, I think people just wanted to get out of the bad weather.
Lucky for us, the show has been rescheduled! July 11th is the new show date and patrons are able to simply use their original tickets for the upcoming show.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Overview
My intern experience at Highmark Stadium started in late March. This is my first time working in a box office and I have really enjoyed it so far. Highmark Stadium is Home to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a USL league team.The stadium also holds other sporting events including their PDL developmental soccer team and lacrosse events. Something new I got to be apart of this summer was their concert series. It was was something new and exciting the whole team got to be apart of.
My duties as an intern for the box office include many things. My time here consists of event and office hours. Events are fun because you can deal with people on a more personal basis. Interns are either placed in the box office selling tickets through our Ticketmaster system or we are scanning patrons tickets at the gate. Dealing with Ticketmaster has been a challenge, we have the HOST system here at Highmark which is not a simple point and click system. It has taken some time but I grow more comfortable with it everyday. Weekday office duties include answering calls, selling walk up tickets, group sales and any other office work that needs to be done. Working during the day has allowed me to become more familiar with the Ticketmaster system and learning other types of sales.
I have found that the Box Office in a venue is really the hub of everything. We are responsible for sales and tickets which means a lot of people come to us for answers. I am enjoying the atmosphere so far and look forward to what I have left to learn.....which is a lot.
My duties as an intern for the box office include many things. My time here consists of event and office hours. Events are fun because you can deal with people on a more personal basis. Interns are either placed in the box office selling tickets through our Ticketmaster system or we are scanning patrons tickets at the gate. Dealing with Ticketmaster has been a challenge, we have the HOST system here at Highmark which is not a simple point and click system. It has taken some time but I grow more comfortable with it everyday. Weekday office duties include answering calls, selling walk up tickets, group sales and any other office work that needs to be done. Working during the day has allowed me to become more familiar with the Ticketmaster system and learning other types of sales.
I have found that the Box Office in a venue is really the hub of everything. We are responsible for sales and tickets which means a lot of people come to us for answers. I am enjoying the atmosphere so far and look forward to what I have left to learn.....which is a lot.
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