For many elite sports sales teams, the franchise’s business success depends on their ability to sell high-value inventory, specifically premium seats and suites, to corporations, executives, and affluent clientele.
Premium offerings are more than just seats; they’re business development tools. Companies use suites to entertain clients, reward employees, and build relationships. However, these high-end products require a sophisticated sales approach. Unlike general ticket sales, premium inventory must appeal to business needs, return on experience, and value perception.
Common Challenges of B2B Sports Sales Teams
Many franchises face formidable goals such as doubling revenue from premium suites and high-end seating in a single season. While their sales teams may be talented and motivated, the existing sales strategy may be ill-suited for the complexity and skepticism that often accompanies high-ticket B2B sales in sports and entertainment.
Key Issues:
- Product-Centric Sales Messaging
Sales reps lead with what they know best, such as team success, fan engagement, and the excitement of game night. While these are attractive to diehard fans, they fall short in persuading business buyers, who are evaluating premium experiences through a return-on-investment lens. Pitches that begin with “We’re having a great season!” doesn’t answer the fundamental question: “What’s in it for the client?” - Undifferentiated Prospecting Repsoften lack a consistent and structured approach to identifying and pursuing new business. Prospecting is reactive, not proactive. There is no uniform cadence or strategy for opening meaningful conversations with decision-makers unfamiliar with the brand’s business value.
- Skeptical Buyers, Complex Decisions Premium sales often involve high-dollar commitments, multiple stakeholders, and budget scrutiny. This means the sales team needsa more sophisticated sales approach, one that could uncover business needs, overcome objections, and articulate value in business terms.
- Lack of Individual andSalesTeam Insight Sales managers have limited visibility into what makes each salesperson successful, or where they are struggling. Without this insight, sales training efforts can be generic, accountability inconsistent, and coaching lacking in precision.
- No Unified Sales Framework Many times, thereis no formal sales methodology that guides how sales reps prepare for meetings, conduct needs assessments, handle sales objections, or close deals. As a result, sales performance varies widely from rep to rep.
To overcome these challenges, sales leaders in the sports industry need to implement a data-driven, repeatable sales system tailored to premium inventory and built for sustainable growth.
5 Strategies for Sales Leaders to Increase Ticket and Premium Sponsorship Sales in Sports & Entertainment
This blueprint offers sales leaders across any industry strategies to scale performance, engage buyers, and generate sustainable revenue growth. At its core, this sort of transformation proves that data-driven methodology, strategic leadership, and value-based selling are essential to competing in today’s complex sales environment.
- Diagnose Before You Prescribe
Too many sports sales teams rush into training without first understanding what’s actually limiting performance. Tyson Group’s Sales Team Science approach, using behavioral data and performance insights, ensures that development efforts are targeted, efficient, and personalized. Sports sales leaders must begin with diagnostics to uncover strengths, gaps, and coaching opportunities.
- Move from Pitching to Problem-Solving
In premium or complex B2B sales, buyers aren’t swayed by features, but rather they are moved by solutions. Tyson Group’s sales training approach teaches salespeople to step into the buyer’s world, uncover business drivers, and frame offerings as outcomes, not amenities. Sales reps who can build value and credibility in the first conversation are the ones who close.
- Standardize Sales Execution
Success is about systematizing excellence across the sports sales team. Using a structured meeting strategy helps sports franchises create consistent, high-quality buyer experiences. Sales leaders must equip their teams with repeatable frameworks that raise the floor for everyone.
- Lead with Accountability and Coaching
Transformation sticks when leaders are equipped and engaged. It’s important to also train sales managers to lead performance-based conversations, build trust, and reinforce the right sales behaviors. Sales pipeline reviews become performance labs. Sales coaching becomes strategic. Sales culture shifts from reactive to proactive.
- SalesMetrics Matter, but Behavior Drives Metrics
While results like a 55% increase in premium suite sales are impressive, they are driven by underlying behavioral changes, prospecting consistency, meeting quality, and improved objection handling. Sales leaders should manage both lagging indicators (results) and leading indicators (actions) to sustain momentum.
When your sports sales team is developed scientifically, managed strategically, and coached consistently, the results speak for themselves.
Measuring Sales Training ROI: Results on an NBA Franchise’s Sales Team Transformation
Tyson Group recently partnered with an NBA franchise to lead such a transformation, driven by our methodology to drive quantifiable results.
Through a combination of data-backed training and strategic leadership development, the NBA franchise’s premium sales team achieved the following key outcomes.
55% Increase in Premium Suite Sales The sales team delivered a record-setting season, with a 55% year-over-year increase in premium suite sales. This marked the highest growth rate in franchise history for that category, an extraordinary accomplishment in one of the most competitive segments of sports entertainment.
Doubled the Weekly Average of New Business Meetings By adopting a structured sales prospecting cadence and focusing on B2B value conversations, the sales team doubled the number of qualified new business meetings per week. This created a stronger, more consistent sales pipeline and expanded the team’s reach to untapped business segments.
Top League Ranking for New Season Ticket Revenue The impact extended beyond suites. The franchise also ranked among the top NBA teams in new season ticket revenue. This was a testament to the sales team’s ability to apply Tyson Group’s model across multiple inventory types and revenue streams.
Increased Confidence and Performance Consistency Sales reps reported greater self-awareness, confidence, and clarity in their sales conversations. The sales process became more repeatable, and sales performance variance across the team decreased as sales training and sales coaching aligned efforts toward common standards.
Shortened Sales Cycles and Improved Forecast Accuracy With sales leaders managing performance against behavior-based benchmarks and leveraging predictive insights, the sales team achieved shorter sales cycle times and more reliable forecasting, giving the front office better visibility and agility in planning.
Take Your Team on the Away Game Selling™ Journey
Premium inventory demands premium execution. If your sports sales team is being asked to grow revenue without a clear system to support it, it may be time to step back and re-engineer performance.
Explore how Tyson Group’s Away Game Selling™ framework helps sports organizations diagnose performance gaps, standardize execution, and drive predictable revenue growth.
