---
title: "Sports event ticketing questions answered"
description: "Get straight answers to 24 questions sports clubs and event teams ask, from what your buyers pay and when your ticket money reaches you to how your team runs the day."
canonical: "https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/sports-events/questions"
---

1. [Ticket Fairy](https://www.ticketfairy.com/)
2. [Solutions](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions)
3. [Sports events](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/sports-events)
4. Sports event ticketing: your questions answered

# Sports event ticketing: your questions answered

  [Get started free](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome?utm_source=compare&utm_campaign=solutions-sports-events-questions) [Book a demo](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing/book-a-demo)

- **24** questions answered
- **24** pages that show you how

Here you can find out how you put each fixture on sale in minutes, bring the season's money in early with season passes, give the visiting club its allocation and move a match without losing your fans. You can also see how you staff your gates and keep matchday moving, who pays the booking fee and when your ticket money reaches you.

1. [Who sets up the seat map for our stadium?](#who-sets-up-the-seat-map-for-our-stadium)
2. [How many matches can one season pass cover?](#how-many-matches-can-one-season-pass-cover)
3. [Can the visiting club see our sales?](#can-the-visiting-club-see-our-sales)
4. [Who can ask for a refund when we postpone a match?](#who-can-ask-for-a-refund-when-we-postpone-a-match)
5. [What does it cost a fan to resell a ticket at face value?](#what-does-it-cost-a-fan-to-resell-a-ticket-at-face-value)
6. [Can I give accreditation passes for a seated match?](#can-i-give-accreditation-passes-for-a-seated-match)
7. [Can a junior club get a group price?](#can-a-junior-club-get-a-group-price)
8. [Does Fai act on an incident by herself?](#does-fai-act-on-an-incident-by-herself)
9. [Does the scanning app work without a signal?](#does-the-scanning-app-work-without-a-signal)
10. [How do walk-ups pay at the gate?](#how-do-walk-ups-pay-at-the-gate)
11. [Who pays the booking fee, the fans or the club?](#who-pays-the-booking-fee-the-fans-or-the-club)
12. [When does the club receive its ticket money?](#when-does-the-club-receive-its-ticket-money)
13. [Can fans see every home fixture on one page?](#can-fans-see-every-home-fixture-on-one-page)
14. [How do we put the next fixture on sale quickly?](#how-do-we-put-the-next-fixture-on-sale-quickly)
15. [Can we hold seats back for players' families, sponsors and the league?](#can-we-hold-seats-back-for-players-families-sponsors-and-the-league)
16. [How do we stop one buyer taking too many tickets for a big match?](#how-do-we-stop-one-buyer-taking-too-many-tickets-for-a-big-match)
17. [What happens when a match sells out?](#what-happens-when-a-match-sells-out)
18. [Can we sell hospitality tables with a deposit?](#can-we-sell-hospitality-tables-with-a-deposit)
19. [Can fans buy parking and a program with their ticket?](#can-fans-buy-parking-and-a-programme-with-their-ticket)
20. [How do we fill steward and volunteer shifts for each match?](#how-do-we-fill-steward-and-volunteer-shifts-for-each-match)
21. [How do we keep the tunnel and media areas for the right people?](#how-do-we-keep-the-tunnel-and-media-areas-for-the-right-people)
22. [How do we refund a fan who can no longer come?](#how-do-we-refund-a-fan-who-can-no-longer-come)
23. [How do we tell ticket holders about a change of kick-off time?](#how-do-we-tell-ticket-holders-about-a-change-of-kick-off-time)
24. [How do we see how each stand is selling?](#how-do-we-see-how-each-stand-is-selling)

## Who sets up the seat map for our stadium?

Ticket Fairy's team sets up the seat map with you. Without a map, you sell a place in each stand, with a ticket category for each stand and a ticket type for each price.

Your Ticket Fairy contact builds the seat map with you from your stadium's seating plan. Fans then pick their own seats as they buy, and you can move a ticket holder to a different seat later from their order.

Without a map, you open Tickets on the event, find Ticket Categories and select Create. Each stand gets a category, such as North Stand or Family Stand, with the ticket types that belong in it, such as Adult, Junior and Senior. Your event page then shows each stand under its own heading, and each ticket type keeps its own price and allocation.

[Sell a place in each stand with ticket categories](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/group-your-tickets-into-categories)

## How many matches can one season pass cover?

From one to a hundred. Each booking uses one match of the pass. A pass can expire on a set date, a number of months after each purchase or never.

Under Event Passes on your brand, you select Create a pass. You enter the number of matches in Events per pass, choose when it expires under When does it expire?, then enter the price and, if you want a limit, the number in Total for sale. If Event Passes is not switched on for your brand, the page tells you and offers to put you in touch.

Under Which ticket does a pass book?, automatic books the lowest priced ticket on each match that is neither hidden nor switched off. Or you pick the ticket for each match yourself, so a derby or a cup tie is not given away at the price of a normal game.

With your event series attached under Event series (optional), every fixture in it counts, including the ones you have not created yet. Each booking uses one match of the pass, so a holder who books two tickets for one game uses two.

[Sell a season pass that covers your fixtures](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-a-pass-that-covers-several-events)

## Can the visiting club see our sales?

No. The visiting club can only hand out the allocation you gave them. You can raise or lower their limit at any time. Lowering it below what they have already handed out stops them handing out more, without taking tickets back.

On Delegations for the match, you select Create Delegation. You enter the visiting club's name, then select Add Ticket and choose the away end ticket type with its Quantity and Type. With an invitation type chosen, the visiting club's supporters buy their own tickets through it. Under Add User, you enter the club contact's name and email address.

On the saved delegation, Manage Access, then Copy access link beside their name, gives you the link to send the club. They work from that link alone, and they never see your sales, your buyers or the rest of your event.

[Give the visiting club its own allocation](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-a-partner-hand-out-their-own-tickets)

## Who can ask for a refund when we postpone a match?

You choose: every ticket holder, only those who bought before the postponement, or nobody, in which case your team deals with each request. You can change the choice later, for example to close refunds once the new date is announced.

On the match, you select Event Details and select Postpone Event in the row of status actions. You choose whether the new date appears on the event page, enter the new Start Date and End Date, and choose the date the postponement notice shows until. You then choose who can request a refund, select Postpone Event and Confirm.

Ticket Fairy emails ticket holders after you confirm a postponement or save an update. Your own email can reach them the same day too, and the event description can tell a fan who reaches the page the same thing.

Postponing does not refund every order. It decides which ticket holders can ask for a refund. It is worth checking the sale end, gate times and any scheduled messages against the new date. You cannot postpone after the event has ended or after its money has been paid out, so in either case contact Ticket Fairy support.

[Postpone or reschedule a match](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/postpone-or-reschedule-an-event)

## What does it cost a fan to resell a ticket at face value?

Outside India, each resale carries a 10% resale fee. The seller gets the ticket price back in full, and the fee is charged separately to their original card.

Under Tickets on the match, then Settings, you select Settings on the Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings card. You turn on Ticket resale and select Save. A fan who cannot come opens their order and chooses Sell Ticket, then sells it to the next fan on your waiting list or to someone they know.

The new buyer pays the ticket type's current price at an ordinary checkout, so nobody can mark a ticket up. The seller's ticket still works until the new buyer pays, then stops, and the new buyer gets a ticket of their own. The resale fee is 10% of what the seller paid for the ticket, not counting the booking fee, and Ticket Fairy can set a different fee for your event.

On Performance, Ticket Resale shows how many tickets of each type fans have put up for resale, and who bought each one.

[Let fans resell their tickets at face value](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/let-buyers-resell-their-tickets-at-face-value)

## Can I give accreditation passes for a seated match?

Not on a match with a seat map. Accreditation passes with zones and days work on events without a seat map, such as a race, a tournament or a ground where fans buy a place in a stand. On a match with a seat map, stewards, media and club staff get guest tickets from the Guest Tickets page.

On the event's Operations page, under Accreditation, then Zones and pass types, you add each zone, such as Tunnel or Media. On each pass type, you choose Issue as guest ticket, tick the Zones it opens and select Save pass type. You add each person with Add someone, or select Bring in people, then issue the passes.

Each group's Passes allowed under Groups and allowances keeps each club and media outlet inside its allowance. Every scan shows your gate team the zones, days and hours on the pass.

On a match with a seat map, Guest Tickets lets you choose the seats for your stewards, media and club staff instead.

[Issue accreditation passes for your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/issue-accreditation-passes-for-your-event)

## Can a junior club get a group price?

Yes. With a group size on a promotion, the discount applies once the basket holds that many tickets. A basket carries one discount at a time. On an event with a seat map, the group discount counts seats.

Under Marketing on the match, you select Promotions, then Create promotion. You add a code such as JUNIOR10, select Add tickets and choose the ticket types and a Percentage Discount. You then enter the group size in Auto-apply when cart reaches this many tickets and select Create.

Checkout then applies the lower price once the basket reaches the group size, with no code to enter. A second promotion with a bigger group and a bigger discount means a basket that reaches both gets the larger one. Sales by Promo Code on Performance shows the tickets and revenue each group price brought in.

[Offer group discounts on your fixture tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/offer-group-discounts-on-event-tickets)

## Does Fai act on an incident by herself?

No. Fai suggests how serious each report is and drafts emails for you to approve. A person in your control room makes each decision.

On the event's Operations page, you select Incidents, then Report incident. You enter What happened? and Where?, and choose How serious is it?. Sensitive keeps anything personal private. Any member of your event's team can also ask Fai to log an incident, and Fai waits for their yes first.

When an incident is High or Critical, Fai emails your safety lead and the event's owners and admins straight away. On the incident, you read the Fai suggests section, then select Start handling, Mark resolved or Close, and add updates as things happen. Nobody can delete an incident, so the record stays complete for the safety officer afterwards.

[Report and handle incidents on matchday](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/report-and-handle-incidents-at-your-event)

## Does the scanning app work without a signal?

No. The Entry Fairy app needs an internet connection to scan tickets, so check the connection at each entrance before the gates open.

The day before, you can check the connection at every entrance your stewards use. Each steward who scans joins as Door Staff and installs the Entry Fairy app from Download App on Check-In while they have a good connection.

One guest ticket sent to yourself on a ticket type that admits once, and scanned on every phone before the gates open, confirms each phone is ready. The first phone admits it, and every other phone shows it as already checked in, with the time and who scanned it. You then find the test ticket in Individual Tickets and select Unscan ticket.

[Prepare your gate team for matchday](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/prepare-your-door-team)

## How do walk-ups pay at the gate?

In cash on any phone that runs the scanning app, or by tapping a card, phone or watch on a compatible Android phone. Taps work when your payment processing account is in a country where tap to pay works, your event's venue is in that same country, and your business address or the venue's address is complete.

Your gate team sells to walk-ups in the Entry Fairy app, from the same ticket types as your event page, so the same seat or place is never sold twice. A second gate, a roaming seller and your ticket office can all sell at the same time, and no phone needs setting up.

If a phone does not offer card taps, the app names the reason, such as an event with no venue or a business address that is not complete. Once you fix what it names and save, the option appears within a minute. Your gate team can still take cash and use any card machine you already own alongside card taps.

Box office sales have their own card on Performance, beside your net revenue, so you can settle up with each seller after the match.

[See how gate sales work on matchday](https://www.ticketfairy.com/features/check-in-and-box-office)

## Who pays the booking fee, the fans or the club?

You choose for each event. With Added, the default, fans pay the booking fee on top and you receive the full ticket price. With Absorbed, fans pay exactly the ticket price and the fee comes out of what you receive.

Under Tickets on your event, you choose a card under Booking Fees on the Inventory tab, or choose it while you create the event. The choice comes before your first ticket type, because you cannot switch between Added and Absorbed once ticket types exist.

The booking fee depends on the ticket price and your event's country, and your Ticket Types table shows the exact amount for every price you enter. Free tickets carry no fee.

[Choose who pays the booking fee on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/set-who-pays-the-fees)

## When does the club receive its ticket money?

You choose how your brand is paid. With Paid out after your event, Ticket Fairy takes the card payments and pays you 10 to 15 business days after each match. With Before your event, as tickets sell, each payment goes to your own payment processing account as it is made.

To be paid as tickets sell, you need your own payment processing account set up and active before your tickets go on sale, and that account pays out on its own schedule. With Paid out after your event, you need nothing set up, so you can publish straight away.

When you are paid after each match, the money goes to the account under Payout Details on your brand's Details page, and one event can use a different account. Ticket Fairy pays you for a postponed match after it takes place, and pending refund requests or chargebacks extend the wait.

[Check the payout for your match](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-your-payout)

## Can fans see every home fixture on one page?

Yes. Your fixtures can group into an event series with a public page of its own, so fans see every current and upcoming home game together. A naming rule adds each new fixture to the series as you create it.

Under Brand, then Event Series, you select Create Event Series. You enter a Series name without a year, such as your club's home games, and a description. Under Add matching events automatically, you enter the words every fixture name contains or starts with.

You turn on Show this series on a public page and select Create. The page shows public fixtures that are current or upcoming, and each fixture keeps its own venue, tickets and event page.

[Run your fixtures as an event series](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-recurring-event-series)

## How do we put the next fixture on sale quickly?

The last match duplicates into a new draft, and you enter the new name, web address and dates. The ticket types, ticket categories and settings come with it, and you choose whether the team, promotions and email templates come too.

On Events, you open the menu on the last match and choose Duplicate Event. You enter the new Event Name, Short Name, start and end dates and Event web address. You select each extra part to carry over, such as ticket delegations for the visiting club, then select Duplicate.

The copy stays a draft until you publish it, and the last match keeps its orders and check-ins. When the fixture name follows your series naming rule, the new match joins your series page too.

[Duplicate the last fixture](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/duplicate-an-event)

## Can we hold seats back for players' families, sponsors and the league?

Yes. You can hold back a named number of tickets inside a ticket type, and they stay out of the public on-sale. Your sales figures do not move, and the type shows as sold out to fans once what has sold plus what you hold reaches its maximum.

Under Tickets on the match, you open the ticket type and turn on Hold tickets. You enter who the tickets are for in Hold for, such as Players' families, then the number in Quantity of tickets, and select Save.

The name and the number are fixed once you save a hold, so remove it and add a new one to change it. A hold shrinks as your invited guests buy. When you remove it, every ticket your guests did not take goes back on sale to the public.

[Hold back tickets for later](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/hold-back-ticket-stock)

## How do we stop one buyer taking too many tickets for a big match?

Each ticket type can have a maximum per order and a maximum per customer account. The order limit caps one basket, and the account limit caps what one customer account buys across all its orders.

Under Tickets on the match, you select Edit on the ticket type. You turn on Set custom maximum quantity per order and enter the number, then turn on Set maximum number per customer account and enter a number from 1 to 20. You select Save, and repeat for each ticket type that needs a limit.

A buyer whose email has no customer account yet is not held to the account limit on a first purchase, so set a per-order limit as well. To put a name on every ticket, you turn on Names required under Anti-Scalping/Fraud Settings on the Tickets settings tab.

[Limit how many tickets one buyer can take](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/limit-who-can-buy-tickets)

## What happens when a match sells out?

Fans join your waiting list from the event page. When a ticket comes back through resale or a refund, Ticket Fairy emails the next fan in line for that ticket type a link to buy it at the ticket's current price.

Under Tickets on the match, then Settings, you turn on Enable waiting list after ticket sell-out and select Save Ticket Settings. Maximum tickets for waiting list on a ticket type spreads returned tickets across more fans.

Each fan gets a window to buy that shortens as the match nears, from thirty-six hours when it is more than two weeks away to eight hours on the day. An offer that lapses moves the ticket to the next fan. On Performance, Waiting List shows who is waiting, offered or bought.

[Run a waiting list for a sold-out match](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/run-a-waiting-list)

## Can we sell hospitality tables with a deposit?

Yes. Each hospitality table is a table type with its price, the party size and the share paid online. The host pays the deposit at checkout, and your team collects the rest on matchday.

Under Tickets on the match, you select Create under Table Types. You enter the table's name, price and Stock, the smallest and largest party one booking holds, and the Online Deposit Percentage from 1 to 100. You save it and select Confirm on the summary of your split.

Each table booking asks the host for an identity check, and Ticket Fairy charges the online share once they pass it. When your gate team scans the booking in the Entry Fairy app, the ticket shows the balance still to pay. They take the payment and mark it paid in the app.

[Sell hospitality tables with an online deposit](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-vip-tables-and-bottle-service)

## Can fans buy parking and a program with their ticket?

Yes. Each extra is an add-on, such as a parking space, a program or a matchday meal, with its own price and stock. Fans add it beside their ticket in the same checkout.

Under Tickets on the match, in Add-Ons, you select Create Add-On. You enter the Name, the Price and the Stock, or turn on Unlimited. Description tells fans what they need to know, such as where the car park is and when it opens. Limit to Certain Ticket Types Only sells an extra with chosen tickets only, and you then select Create Add-On.

When an add-on sells out, fans still see it marked sold out and your tickets stay on sale. When you raise the Stock, it goes straight back on sale. Scanning the ticket checks in its add-ons too, or scan the add-on's own code at a collection point.

[Sell parking and programs with your tickets](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/sell-add-ons-with-your-tickets)

## How do we fill steward and volunteer shifts for each match?

Each open shift can go to the people who fit, and the first person to accept takes the place. Fai leaves out anyone already working at that time, or anyone a shift would take past your rest and hours rules.

On the event's Operations page, you select Shifts, then Offers at the top. You select Offer to people on a shift, tick who gets the offer and send it. Each person accepts or says no thanks on their My shifts page.

Fai also leaves out anyone younger than the shift's minimum age, without its skill or a document it needs, or who said they cannot work that day. Most hours in 7 days counts shifts at all your brand's events, so nobody is booked over the limit across your fixtures.

[Offer open shifts to your stewards and volunteers](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/offer-open-shifts-to-your-crew-and-volunteers)

## How do we keep the tunnel and media areas for the right people?

Each person carries a pass with the zones it opens, and your staff gates scan it. The gate refuses a pass for the wrong zone, day or time and shows the reason, and On site now shows who is inside each zone.

On the event's Operations page, you select Desks, then Gate. Your gate team chooses the zone in This device is the gate for, chooses Coming in or Going out, and scans each pass. A USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner connected to the device scans the code, or staff enter it by hand.

When someone the gate refused must go in, Let them through with a reason lets them in, and Ticket Fairy records the override. On site now, then a zone's count, shows who is inside with the time each went in. Scan people out at every exit you staff, so the count stays right.

[Check passes in and out at your staff gates](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-passes-in-and-out-at-your-staff-gates)

## How do we refund a fan who can no longer come?

The event owner refunds the order from Orders and confirms it with a six-digit code Ticket Fairy emails them. The face value goes back to the fan's card, and their tickets stop working at once.

On Orders, you find the order on the Paid tab, open its row menu and select Refund. You check the amount and the order number, select Get authorization code, then enter the six digits from the email and select Confirm Refund. The ticket goes back on sale, or to your waiting list when your match is set up that way.

The Refund option appears once Ticket Fairy has turned on dashboard refunds for your event, on a card order paid through your own connected payment account, before the match's money has been paid out. Ticket Fairy support refunds anything else for you, and the booking fee stays charged on a dashboard refund.

[Refund an order on your event](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/refund-an-order)

## How do we tell ticket holders about a change of kick-off time?

On Messaging for the match, you select New Email. You choose every ticket holder or only the holders of chosen ticket types, such as the away end, and send it now. The email goes out under your club's name, and replies come to your brand's email address.

Under Audience, you choose All ticket holders and RSVPs, or Specific ticket type holders and tick the types. You enter the subject and message, and turn on the switch that says the message is not for marketing. A test sent to yourself comes first, then you select Send and check the message before you select Send Email.

Show Recipients lists everyone the email went to, with Opened at beside each fan who opened it. Your brand and your own account must be verified before you can send.

[Email the ticket holders for your match](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/email-your-buyers)

## How do we see how each stand is selling?

Performance on the match shows it. Tickets shows how many have sold and Net revenue what the match has earned, and Sales by Type shows what each ticket type has sold and brought in.

The page refreshes about every five seconds while it is open. Ticket Sales gives one row per day, with the chart above it by day or by week. Ticket Sales leaves out the guest tickets you send to stewards and sponsors, and Sales by Type lists them under their ticket type at zero.

To see how this match is selling against the last one at the same point, Insights has Compared with last time. On matchday, Check-In's Hourly view shows how many came in each hour against the tickets sold.

[See how your match is selling](https://www.ticketfairy.com/guides/check-your-sales)

[Ticket Fairy for sports events](https://www.ticketfairy.com/solutions/sports-events)

**You choose the tools to start with** You can start with event management or marketing alongside your current ticketing provider. If you decide to move ticketing, your account manager helps with setup, customer-data imports and training.

## Start Selling Tickets Online

Sign up without a credit card and build a test event before you commit. Go on sale in minutes when you are ready.

    No monthly subscription required for ticketing    Start selling tickets immediately    Ticketing tools included in the service fee   [Get Started](https://manage.ticketfairy.com/welcome?utm_source=compare&utm_campaign=solutions-sports-events-questions)

No credit card required

---

This page is on Ticket Fairy, a ticketing, marketing and operations platform for live events and the venues that host them: festivals, club nights, concerts, conferences and tours, and night clubs, beach clubs and concert venues. It grows revenue with fan rewards that turn an audience into a sales channel, and runs the money side with payments and payouts, Vault business banking, and working capital advanced against ticket sales. [How Ticket Fairy ticketing works](https://www.ticketfairy.com/event-ticketing) · [Ticket Fairy for AI assistants](https://www.ticketfairy.com/llms.txt)