Jeremy Olshan, Market Watch:
Passbook – which allows tickets and loyalty cards from a variety of outlets to be delivered to one iPhone app – proved to be an instant hit with fans, Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advance Media, tells MarketWatch. In its test run with four teams for the final two weeks of the season, 1,500 e-ticket buyers (12%) chose Passbook delivery. “That adoption rate really floored us – there is no question our fans want digital tickets,” Bowman says. “Fans can use the tickets, forward them to a friend, resell them, or even donate them to charity – and they never get lost or left at home.”
Interestingly, Olshan notes that traditional ticket stubs accounted for less than one-third of all single-game tickets this season - with next season’s total expected to drop below 10%. This news, coupled with the continued improvement of MLB’s mobile apps, leaves no doubt that the league is on top in terms of technology. Now if they could only do something about blackout rules and the new stupid, one-game playoff farces.1
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I’m a Texas Rangers fan and my wife is an Atlanta Braves fan. Needless to say, we had a bad week. ↩︎