Case Study: How zkipster helps MATCH Hospitality deliver official sports hospitality programs

What does sports event management at scale actually entail? 

When it comes to organizing sporting events, large, globally-renowned tournaments can encompass many different matches, rounds or sports taking place across several venues, in multiple locations, every day, for a period of several weeks.

How do the organizers of iconic sporting events like these welcome fans and followers? 

Oftentimes they turn to MATCH Hospitality, the world's leading provider of sports experiences and a leader in hospitality across a range of world-class sporting events. These include the biggest tournaments in football, motorsport, and more.

MATCH Hospitality uses zkipster to help deliver exceptional sports experiences

zkipster and MATCH Hospitality have enjoyed a partnership since 2016. Since then zkipster has powered 967 separate events in eight countries for MATCH Hospitality. MATCH has welcomed 471,490 guests on 1,040 guest lists, and 96,622 seats have been assigned on 900 seating charts.

MATCH Hospitality’s complex, large-scale programs often encompass multiple tiers of the finest on-site hospitality, from informal fan zones right up to ultra-premium lounges. A wide variety of official hospitality packages can be purchased by individuals and corporate clients from all over the world via different ticketing intermediaries.

The challenge: seamless sport event hospitality at scale

• MATCH Hospitality requires elegant, automated processes to handle bookings from purchase to check-in.

• The company must connect other programs, including its ticketing systems, with its event management software, so that updates to bookings, guests and events can be made and viewed in real time.

• Group bookings are a fundamental part of sports hospitality, and it is essential that MATCH Hospitality’s group bookings are accurately captured and easily managed.

• Once guests are booked in, MATCH Hospitality needs to gather pre-event information from them, then correctly place and seat them in specific hospitality zones at each venue. 

The solution: harness the power of the zkipster API and the potential of the Guest Relationships feature

• As an Enterprise client, MATCH Hospitality has access to the zkipster API. Connecting with the API enables the team to automate the creation of, and updates to, events and guest lists for its hospitality programs. 

• An API connection was also established between MATCH's ticketing system and zkipster so that hospitality packages can be linked to the relevant guests and events in zkipster.

• zkipster Guest Relationships is available in the API, and MATCH uses the feature to organize group bookings, including distinguishing between multiple bookings from the same company. A lead booker is named on each order and a Relationship created between them and the individual guests in the order. This establishes an accurate link between each booking and its guests in zkipster and in MATCH Hospitality’s systems. 

• Once bookings are synced in zkipster, the team uses the Invitations tool to communicate with guests, including requesting information such as dietary requirements. 

• MATCH uses the zkipster Seating tool to accurately seat guests. Automated seating changes can be made via the API, and manual changes via the zkipster app.

• The ability to make live updates like these means that the hospitality team can work confidently in the knowledge they are using real-time booking, guest and event data.

• Large-scale sports tournaments often entail the creation of hundreds of separate events in zkipster over a period of several weeks, as reflected in the impressive stats above. MATCH Hospitality is able to deliver operations of such scale and complexity because the team utilizes the zkipster API. Our expert API support team is also on hand to help with any issues.

All images courtesy of MATCH Hospitality