Behind the Scenes: Ticketing

Today we take a behind the scenes look at the UNI Ticket Office. Beyond the Field sat down for an interview with Assistant Athletic Director for Ticketing, Kyle Osgood.

Kyle Osgood serves as the Assistant Athletics Director for Ticketing at UNI. He got his start working in ticket sales at Wichita State University, where he served as an assistant director of ticket operations. During his time at Wichita State, Kyle reconciled nearly $2.8 million in annual athletic ticket sales. He had the opportunity to lead ticketing efforts for the Shockers during the 2013 and 2014 NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, which included the 2013 Men's Final Four in Atlanta. Kyle earned his BA in sports administration from Wichita State in 2007.

Photo from the 2013 men's basketball Final Four. Photo Credit: photos.oregonlive.com

Kyle came to UNI last year to serve as the Athletics Director for Ticketing. He oversees all ticketing operations for UNI Athletics. On a day-to-day basis, his job duties vary depending on the season. During the off season, he is mostly building the ticketing system, working with renewal of season tickets, sending out invoices, and reaching out to potential new season ticket holders. During the season, he works with handling customer service issues that may arise from those at athletic events and working to fix the issues that ticket holders may have. Kyle most recently had the opportunity to oversee the UNI ticket sales for the NCAA basketball tournament in Oklahoma City, where the men's basketball team advanced to the Round of 32.

Fans cheering on the men's basketball team in Oklahoma City. Photo Credit: University of Northern Iowa. 

Kyle noted that his favorite part of working in ticketing is the customer service interaction. Being in ticket sales requires you to communicate with season ticket holders, single game ticket holders, and other potential ticket holders to try and build a lasting relationship that keeps them coming back to UNI athletic events. One of Kyle's favorite memories from his time at UNI was when the men's basketball team beat #1 North Carolina in November.

UNI fans storm the court after the men's basketball team defeated #1 North Carolina. Photo Credit: University of Northern Iowa. 

As with any job, there are things that can be very difficult. For Kyle this is season ticket renewals. This is especially hard during football season where Kyle has to send out nearly 12,000 invoices to those who have purchased season tickets.

Finally, Kyle offered some advice to those looking to go into ticket sales at any level. "Don't limit yourself geographically. You must be willing to go wherever the jobs are and not be set on working at one particular place."