THE UK’S TOP SELLING SPORTS EVENTS

viagogo, a global marketplace that helps fans buy and sell tickets to their favourite sporting events, has recently revealed that The Championships, Wimbledon, was its most in-demand event of 2023.

This forms only a part of the data revealed by viagogo, which points towards a number of intriguing industry trends.

To find out more, we’ve pulled together some of most interesting revelations and spoke to viagogo’s Global Managing Director, Cris Miller, to gain more insight.

The viagogo platform is an open ticket marketplace that allows for the resale or initial sale of any ticket to any event anywhere in the world.

Therefore, the marketplace data we look at is simply a reaction to what the demand is out there.

Fans are making decisions themselves. The data is based on the number of tickets sold and the value of the ticket sales. It’s all completely based off the market.

It’s been a pretty remarkable year. Looking through all the information, we even get a little surprised from time to time based off the data.

Cris says: Tennis represents a very popular sport on our platform year after year, primarily due to the volatility of a tournament. When you think about players and performance, there’s always surprises. That tournament dynamic can create and potentially lose demand while the tournament is taking place.

Wimbledon is obviously iconic. It’s a bucket list event for not only tennis fans, but general sport enthusiasts, and anyone that wants to experience this cultural moment.

It also takes place in the UK so it’s accessible and it is probably the most premier tournament of all the grand slams in the world. The quality of the talent and the atmosphere is unique.

There’s been a couple of things that have happened with Formula 1 that has created a lot more interest globally, and specifically in the United States.

The Netflix Drive To Survive series has had a big impact. Now people that weren’t as familiar with the sport know who the drivers are and understand the storylines behind it.

They’ve learned that the sport is much more than driving, it’s technology, it’s heavy investments and its athletes at their peak.

Cris says: Even though Las Vegas may not have been executed perfectly, the fact that it was in Las Vegas creates a lot more attention. And I think the coverage of the sport has improved on TV and online. So, I don’t see that growth slowing down.

Formula 1 is more than sport, it is a spectacle.

It is not just about going to the stands, watching the race, there’s a whole surrounding atmosphere that that is very unique to the sport.

Cris says: This year was the most we’ve seen UK fans travel to events outside of their home country. It was up 41%.

There are two phenomenon’s taking place. Number one is the popularity of our website and service and the accessibility and the optionality that it provides.

And then there is the growing value that people place on experiences. In a post-Covid world people appreciate being able to go out and spend some of that discretionary income.

Cris says: The NFL has done a phenomenal job of trying to export the sport. They understood that there was enough demand that was outside of its domestic markets. But also, US fans would travel.

For the first time since our data began in 2013, this was the first NFL International Series in London  where the majority of the tickets sold were actually to UK residents.

In other markets, like Germany, it is still mainly Americans, but those domestic numbers are growing.

Cris says: The Ashes was a big surprise to me. I know how important that series is to both the Australians and the English, but Americans travelled significantly to that event this year.

These are unique trends that we get to see, we don’t create them. That’s the beauty of the marketplace. We list events up and fans make their own decisions. We just react to the trends from there.

Cris says: The market for rightsholders is more competitive than ever, with so many events and options for consumers.

These influencer boxing matches, I never even thought they were a possibility, and now all of a sudden they are outselling Anthony Joshua.

We invest a significant amount in our own marketing to promote events all over the world. Whether that be through Google or through partnerships that we do with CBS Sports or The Athletic for example.

We are making these investments to get events out in front of as many fans as possible. From our point of view it’s all about selling tickets. If I’m an event organiser I think it’s an appropriate question to ask. How can I distribute tickets to the broadest possible audience?

Cris says: Looking ahead to next year, the Six Nations is set to be a popular one. Typically, after a Rugby World Cup, they’ve always attracted interest.

EURO 2024s is going to be really popular as well. Our initial sales are looking really quite strong,plus it’s located in a market that everyone can get access to. This tournament always does well in these off years in between the two World Cups.

I’m sure they’ll also be new trends that nobody predict – just look at the impact Taylor Swift had on the NFL this year, and Lionel Messi’s move to Inter Miami – it’s the nature of the live sport and events business.

Cris says: The business has had a record year this year.

viagogo  is the only platform that guarantees you’ll have your tickets in time for an event and, in the very rare case there’s an issue, we will provide alternative tickets or a full refund. Our core business relies on getting fans through the door so it’s our number one priority. This provides security and comfort for fans to make purchases months in advance.

We service customers in 195 countries  in 39 different languages and 49 different currencies. We aim to localize the experience as much as possible for anyone, anywhere in the world, to be able to access these events. I think that’s a big opportunity.