Aug 6, 2021

BY Jayson Bussa Thursday, August 05, 2021 11:11pm The Grand Rapids Griffins are partnering with an Irvine, Calif.-based business to revamp the organization’s ticketing solutions. The Grand Rapids-based hockey team, which competes in the American Hockey League, announced that it has signed a parternship agreement with Paciolan LLC, which is owned by Learfield IMG College and specializes in digital ticketing and marketing solutions. “The Griffins are excited to partner with Paciolan for our team’s ticketing needs starting in 2021-22,” Tim Gortsema, president of the Griffins, said in a statement. “Paciolan is an industry leader and provides fan-friendly, mobile ticketing technology. In addition, Pac(iolan) offers a host of marketing tools and sharing of industry best practices, which will drive increased exposure and ticket sales for our franchise.” The Griffins’ new season kicks off in the fall and comes on the heels of two previous seasons that were severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the pandemic that has also left sports organizations at all levels to develop new practices to reduce touchpoints and other potential avenues for disease transmission. The new partnership will minimize the use of physical tickets for the Griffins. “There will be cases of physical tickets under certain circumstances,” Chad Erwin, director of ticket operations and analytics for the Griffins, told MiBiz. “However, the primary method of delivery and majority of tickets will be digital.” The partnership, however, was not a result of the pandemic. The two sides started discussions before COVID struck. Upon the team’s return to play this season, the Griffins will provide a new set of online features tied with the ticket buying experience, including the ability to transfer tickets via text message to others. The platform will also allow the organization to enhance communication with fans. “We at Paciolan are honored to partner with the Grand Rapids Griffins to help enhance the fan experience with our industry leading products and services,” said Steve Demots, chief revenue officer at Paciolan. “Since I am from Grand Rapids, I have followed the Griffins since they began in 1996, and this means a lot that I get to work with them now and be a part of bringing them to the next level on digital ticketing and customer-friendly technology.”