Riptide Partners, a New York based consulting business that offers full-service Customer Experience solutions for sports teams and venue operators, has unveiled its recent survey of actual New York area event attendees. The survey reveals a much faster return to event timeline for consumers than has been widely discussed.
Riptide Partners co-ounder Rob Comstock says the survey is the first, and most comprehensive, study of actual event attendees in the New York area since the Pandemic shutdown began.
"What we saw is they're willing to come back overall on average within 3 and a half months which we thought was very encouraging. Those that are least concerned are willing to come back right away. And even those that are most concerned are willing to come back in 6 months. So the good news is that the vast majority are willing to come back, and even better, they're coming back sooner than expected. I think that's being proven out where we see restaurants that have outside seating, they're full, they're very active. People want to get out. People are tired of being cooped up."
Comstock says Riptide Partners received more than 4,000 completed surveys from consumers who regularly attended sporting and entertainment events in the New York tri-state area. Of those 4,000, an overwhelming 89% said they will return to events depending on the actions taken by venue operators to ensure safety.
"The overall biggest concern raised was anxiety over being in a crowd. Not suprisising. Indoor space in a crowd is most concerning. Things that were specifically talked about were touch areas. Certainly restrooms are a touch area, in the food and beverage space and ticketing could even be a touch area. It's important for venue operators to really think hard about, first and foremost, how do we make this as contact-less as possible. So remove those touch points. You have things like digital ticketing, no contact in the restrooms, ability to order food via an app and pick it up like we see most restaraunts doing now."
Comstock, the former Chief Operating Officer for Madison Square Garden Company, says he's already been in contact with several teams and venues regarding the results of the survey.
Comstock will also be an upcoming guest on the award-winning podcast SportsJam with Doug Doyle.
Below is the newscast version of the story.
