Oregon State is introducing a new way to approach ticket sales with a program they're calling SQUAD, and it's an innovative idea that a lot of other programs will likely look at adopting if all goes according to plan. SQUAD provides an easy way to on-board recent alumni into the giving space with a very predictable revenue stream that should have a long tail. This one is worth watching. Great idea by the team at Oregon State.
According to the release, SQUAD is a program available to Oregon State alums who have graduated in the last decade and it allows members to go to any regular season Oregon State hosted sporting event for a single monthly price. Teams taking part include football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, volleyball, wrestling, and gymnastics.
Oregon State will text SQUAD members the ticket to their mobile devise, members simply accept it and they're able to go to whatever event they want and they'll be seated with other SQUAD members.
The new format allows recent graduates (2006-2016) the ability to attend Beaver events for a subscription fee of $19.99 per month ($240 annually), and that will drive a ton of new revenue. It's also a really great idea to connect with a young fan base that will also bring some good energy with them to Corvallis on game days.
If you have an older fan base, and are in need of some young energy on game day, this is a really, really intriguing idea. The athletic director or head of the booster club can swing by the section that the tickets have been allotted for and mingle with the fan base and get a good feel for the future of the fan base and perhaps make inroads with the future athletic department's biggest booster / supporter. You never know when you might your school's next (or first) T. Boone Pickens.
Brainstorming with this new idea inspired the FootballScoop staff to come up with a few ideas that could really add another dimension to the SQUAD user experience.
- Allow members to sign up spouses
- Allow members priority when it comes to postseason ticket availability. This will provide a great incentive for them to initially sign up, and can also account for a few hundred, or thousand post season ticket sales