Sports Tickets, They're Not Gifts
Trade Groups
By Bob Weiss
May 2010
Recently one of our clients was sitting with his largest client in his firm's seats at a baseball game. She turned to the young man seated next to him and asked how he got his ticket for that night.
Our client was asking because the young man sitting next to him was in a season-ticket seat owned by her law firm. The young man was “shockingly dressed” and possibly a bit inebriated. He was a stark contrast to the law firm partner's guest. Our client described the situation as “awkward.”
Our client learned that the young man’s father had been given the tickets the day before by a neighbor. We later determined the neighbor was a client of the firm. The young man and his friend left the game early— well before the seventh inning stretch— announcing loudly and needlessly to those around them they were going to check out the downtown nightclub scene, our client reported.
Our national survey of marketing effectiveness shows that a majority of firms buy sports tickets as part of their business development efforts. Routinely, firms debate the effectiveness, efficiency, and cost of these tickets. We regularly hear stories of tickets gone begging, or when given away like this being passed along by firm clients to their own customers or friends. We know of instances where an enterprising client sold two of four tickets received from a firm to scalpers. Baseball tickets, due to the frequency of games, are problematic. Arena boxes also prove increasingly difficult to manage after the first season.
It's clear that a substantial portion of seats purchased wind up providing questionable value to law firms. As a result, firms should adopt a ticket policy. Here are some elements you may want to include:
- It does lawyers and firms little good to give someone tickets and not accompany the ticket recipient to the game or event. Tickets aren't gifts-- they are opportunities to spend time with clients and prospects, to get to know them on a personal level, to learn what they need and how you can improve and expand your business relationship. Your firm's policy should be that lawyers must be present at the game or event with the client or prospect for tickets to be reimbursable or charged to the marketing budget.
- Many firms worry they won't be able manage season tickets they buy if this is the policy. The answer for many firms has been to have lawyers buy tickets personally rather than having the firm own them. Also, to split tickets owned by the firm with another firm. Many firms we represent now split tickets with CPAs, insurance brokers, or banks.
- Your marketing staff, or the managing partner's legal assistant, can track who gets the firm's tickets and who is taken to the game or event. Can't find someone to go? Give the tickets to a hard-working member of your staff-- and then move the cost off the marketing expense line and into HR.
ALYN-WEISS & ASSOCIATES, INC.
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