Executive Summary
Since partnering with TicketCo in 2019, Kilmarnock FC has transformed its ticketing operation from a slow, cash-heavy process into a streamlined digital platform that now supports general admission, hospitality, and corporate event management.
Digital ticket adoption climbed from 15% to 85%. Staff efficiency improved. Younger fans engaged. And the commercial scope of the partnership has expanded with every season. The next stage, connecting ticketing, hospitality, and a new membership and loyalty platform, will go further still.
The Challenge
When Kilmarnock approached TicketCo in 2019, their ticketing operation was creating unnecessary friction at every step of the supporter journey:
- Just 15% of tickets were sold digitally
- Most fans paid cash at the turnstile, creating long queues on matchdays
- The purchase process was slow and manually intensive
- Buyer behaviour data was limited, making it hard to plan, communicate, or grow commercially
- The club had no scalable foundation for upselling or fan engagement beyond the gate
Early Gains
The partnership delivered an immediate and measurable shift.
Digital ticketing adoption rose from 15% to 85%, fundamentally changing how supporters purchase tickets and interact with the club. A purchase journey that had taken up to 40 minutes was reduced to under three minutes and as few as four clicks on a mobile phone. For younger, tech-savvy fans, the experience felt natural from day one. For longer-standing supporters, it removed the hassle that had previously made advance purchasing unappealing.
- Season ticket holders moved to mobile ticketing at scale
- Younger fans found the mobile-first experience intuitive and fast
- Matchday planning improved through real-time stadium data
- Ticketing staff were freed from high-volume manual tasks, creating capacity for more strategic work
TicketCo has helped us modernise the supporter journey and significantly improve the way we sell and manage tickets, hospitality and events. What began as a ticketing partnership has evolved into a much broader commercial relationship."
Gregg McEwan, General Manager, Kilmarnock FC
Current Commercial Impact
What has changed more recently is the breadth of the partnership. TicketCo now supports Kilmarnock's wider commercial operation across multiple revenue streams — not just entry to the stadium.
Hospitality
Over the last season, the club implemented TicketCo for hospitality bookings. The result has been a considerably smoother sales process and a simpler, more professional online purchasing experience for both supporters and corporate clients. Moving hospitality onto the same platform as general admission has also improved data consistency and reduced the administrative overhead of managing two separate systems.
Over the last season, TicketCo has helped us streamline our hospitality sales process and create a much simpler online purchasing experience for supporters and corporate customers alike."
Gregg McEwan, General Manager, Kilmarnock FC
Sponsor and corporate events
The club uses TicketCo to manage ticketing for corporate events, including the end-of-season sponsor dinner. Keeping that audience within a dedicated ecosystem allows the club to segment its database cleanly, communicate directly with sponsors, and develop commercial opportunities in a more targeted and relevant way.
Operational visibility
Real-time matchday data gives the club and local police a live view of stadium capacity, improving both crowd safety management and day-to-day staffing decisions.
Saved 20 hours of admin per week
Discover how Bohemian FC eliminated manual friction with TicketCo’s automation. Read the case study
What Comes Next
Kilmarnock is building a membership and loyalty platform that will sit alongside TicketCo and connect ticketing, hospitality, catering, and future commercial activity into a single, points-based system. The ambition is to build a far clearer picture of each supporter's relationship with the club — enabling better-targeted communication, priority access for the most loyal fans, and stronger commercial performance across every revenue stream.
Integrating retail activity, including a future Shopify connection, is part of this long-term vision and will add another dimension to the customer view the club is working towards.
The next stage of our partnership is particularly exciting. By connecting ticketing, hospitality and future membership programmes, we have an opportunity to build a far richer understanding of our supporters and deliver a more personalised experience."
Gregg McEwan, General Manager, Kilmarnock FC
Why This Partnership Works
Kilmarnock's story with TicketCo is one of steady, commercially-driven evolution. The platform has grown alongside the club, from digitising the matchday entry process to powering hospitality sales and now laying the data infrastructure for the next phase of fan engagement.
For commercial directors and CEOs evaluating ticketing partners, Kilmarnock's experience shows what is possible when a platform is built to grow with you rather than just serve you at a single point in time."
