Vice President - Ticket Sales

Job Description

The Vice President - Ticket Sales is responsible for leading a high performing Ticket Sales department and for building a culture that focuses on preparation, hard work, recognition, and professional development. The Vice President -Ticket Sales will oversee strategies directly impacting the overall growth of ticket sales and revenue attributable to the Carolina Mudcats/Wilson Warbirds’ ticket sales department including season, group, individual ticket sales, and suites.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  Other duties may be assigned.

• Develop and implement short- and long-term strategies to maximize ticket sales and revenue
• Set and drive the strategy for ticket sales initiatives, programming, and coordination between departments including, but is not limited to, creating, developing, and implementing departmental strategies and goals for both short-term and long-term ticket sales growth
• Design and implement ticket pricing and product bundling strategies in partnership and with input from the President
• Work in coordination with the President to develop annual attendance and ticket revenue models which is spread over all 66 home games
• Maintain budgetary responsibility for ticket sales and box office operations
• Provide strategic insight based on market research and competitor analysis to deliver variability and dynamic pricing recommendations for seating inventory for all suite, premium hospitality, ticket plans, groups, and individual games
• Manage all seating inventory to maximize attendance and revenue
• Create, implement, and manage new revenue streams by analyzing current ticket inventory and by benchmarking best practices from around professional sports
• Lead and develop creative initiatives to maximize ticket/suite sales, including outlining plans, timelines, direct mail/electronic mail programs, collateral development, etc.
• Manage market research tools and assess data to identify areas of growth, improvement, or opportunity to generate incremental ticket/suite revenue.
• Knowledge and understanding of industry ticketing systems and activate best practices for utilizing the data and analytics
• In collaboration with legal and HR, design, implement, and monitor commission and bonus structures for ticket sales which emphasizes reaching and/or exceeding goals
• Assist in leading weekly sales meetings with the ticket sales team to ensure all ticket sales executives are on track and held accountable to their team and individual goals
• Proactively partner with the Marketing Department to align resources for ticket sales, programming, service, and retention initiatives
• Coordinate and collaborate with the Marketing Department in the creation of sales and service materials including brochures, flyers, and all other support materials
• Lead the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic ticket sales plan to drive meaningful and sustained revenue growth across all ticketing products including but not limited to Season Tickets, Groups, Picnics, Hospitality, and Single Game tickets.
• Lead the creation of the annual ticketing budget and present recommendations to the President.
• Prepare and present various reports to the President including but not limited to weekly revenue reports, budget forecasts, trend analysis, phone call reports, meeting reports, on a weekly basis or as requested.
• Direct the development of an extensive pipeline of sales opportunities across all ticket products that identifying prospects and categories that align with the overall Club philosophy
• Ensure high customer satisfaction and retention across all ticket products through the utilization of a “customer-first” philosophy focused on delivering unsurpassed customer service.
• Engage in regular one-on-one discussions with the ticketing staff and actively coach and guide their professional development
• Maintain and grow a large personal portfolio of key strategic accounts for season tickets, premium hospitality, picnics and group outings through prospecting and customer needs analysis.
• Pull tarp on field, as necessary

Supervisory Responsibilities

Directly supervises Full Time Ticket Sales Staff. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Qualifications   To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

• Must be knowledgeable and aware of industry best practices and be willing to innovate and upgrade the Warbirds’ business practices when appropriate.
• A minimum of 5-7 years in ticket sales, at least five of which in sports or live entertainment
• Prior management experience
• Proven ability to make sound business decisions and outlining “next steps”
• Proven success managing and performing in multi-tasking environment
• Experience with tight deadlines for managing projects
• Proven ability to exercise creative problem solving
• Team-oriented with a healthy and positive attitude
• Proven excellent verbal and written skills
• Experience developing planning tools, budgets, projections, etc.
• Proven ability to effectively present plans and projections to senior management/ownership
• Ability to build strong relationships with outside vendors and possess strong negotiating skills
• Demonstrated sound organizational and coordination skills for delegating tasks
• Proven job reliability, diligence, dedication and attention to detail
• Must be flexible with working nights, weekends, and holidays
• Demonstrated proficiency in key ticketing metrics typical for the professional sports industry
• Passion for sports and entertainment business, sales and marketing

Education and/or Experience

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university and four to ten years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Master’s degree a plus.

Work Hours                                                     

Business hours are Monday – Friday 9 am – 5pm, however, additional hours will be required on weekends, evenings and some holidays.