Ticket Plays Entertainment is a full-service entertainment company within the sports entertainment market. It was derived from a simple concept contemplated in 2008 between co-founders Rasy Forrest and Rocky Crusha. The concept was to engage the spectator by allowing them to share in the outcome of the event. In other words, create a prize for the spectator that is tied to the outcome of the contest.
Over the years the concept has matured and expanded. The prize is still tied to the outcome, but the model now includes event promotion and broadcasting.
Attendance at sporting events around the country has been in decline over the last decade and is expected to do so in the years to come. Theories on the reason(s) behind the decline range from increasing ticket prices to the introduction of new technologies that allow fans to view events live through any device connected to the internet. And the time in which we live in currently with the pandemic our program will allow for the viewing of sporting events to be even more desirable.
Ticket Plays Entertainment was formed to reverse this trend by creating a concept to engage the spectator and develop additional revenue streams. We have a patent pending on our software program and have proof of concept.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Rasy Forrest - President & CEO
Rocky Crusha - Vice President of Marketing
B. Ross McKenzie - Vice President of Sales
Dana C. Roberts - Advisor
George Ducommun - Advisor
James Hackney - (Hackney Financial) Financial Advisor
Andy Vu - (Cybervn Application and Software) Programmer
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Ticket Plays Entertainment is a Texas Corporation formed in July 2021 by Rasy Forrest and co-founders Rocky Crusha, Ross McKenzie, Dana Roberts and George Ducommun. The company was previously an LLC formed back in 2018. We have since transferred all intellectual property over into the Incorporation and have issued shares for the company.
Ticket Plays is a full-service entertainment company within the sports entertainment market. Through the use of technology, we have developed a unique and cutting-edge concept to facilitate event promotion, spectator participation, advertisement, and a path to broadcast events never aired before.
The key to our concept is to create an environment where the spectator is emotionally invested in the outcome of the contest. This is accomplished by assigning prizes to each potential outcome and using the outcome to randomly award the prizes amongst the spectators holding that outcome. Spectators are given a free physical or virtual ticket indicating the outcomes and prizes they have been assigned. The prize can be anything from a gift certificate to a product.
This key and the details of our concept will result in a fundamental shift in how spectators, promotors, advertisers, and contestants interact during events creating value for all.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
The products and services provided by Ticket Plays Entertainment can be divided into three categories. The core service, fan engagement, can be mixed and matched with the other services to meet the specific service requirement of the event.
FAN ENGAGEMENT SERVICE – At the core of our service is the use of our patent pending software system (“TP-System”). This system will manage the event and prize allotment, generate physical or virtual prize tickets, and provide a mechanism to engage and communicate with the spectator during the event. The client or spectator can access this system online through the Ticket Plays Entertainment website. It can also be accessed using a phone or other mobile device by downloading our complimentary mobile
application that serves as the front-end for the system. The price for an event to use our system can be a fixed price per prize ticket or other measurable device agreed to between the parties. There are no upfront costs for the event organizer to use our system.
PROMOTOR – As promotor, Ticket Plays Entertainment will assist the event and use the TP-System to setup the event and prizes, secure the prize allotment, provide labor to distribute the prize tickets and prizes, and promote the event using social media or other means. The price to promote an event can alter the core service price or be independently priced using some other measurable device agreed to between the parties.
BROADCASTER – For events that are interested in earning additional revenue by broadcasting the event live, Ticket Plays Entertainment will produce and broadcast the event through a live stream that can be accessed through our website for anyone willing to subscribe to the feed. Subscribers will receive a free digital prize ticket so they can participate in the outcome(s) like those attending the event.
THE MARKET
The market for our service is the sports industry. There are over 1 million events each year involving sports. Within the industry, we are providing what is commonly referred to as “fan engagement services” plus several complementary services.
In phase I of our business plan, we will target the rodeo segment within the industry. Rodeos are typically smaller in scale and do not have established promotional or broadcasting systems in place. These are optimal targets with the opportunity to provide our full suite of services.
THE OPPORTUNITY
As stated in the introduction, attendance at live sporting events has declined over the last decade. Many events are looking to address this issue by introducing creative ways to enhance the fan experience. In a 2015 survey by Deloitte on event marketing, they pointed to the live game experience as an instrumental focal point for future success (Deloitte, 2015). In North America alone, the sports entertainment market is expected to grow to $63.9 billion by 2020. Sports media rights in North America are projected $23 billion in value by 2021 with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3 percent (Keller, 2019).
No one can deny the incredible success fantasy football and other fantasy sports have had in the gambling industry with a potential to grow to $9.34 billion between 2020-2024 (technavio, 2020). Fans love to supplement their viewing experience with the potential to win cash or other prizes. Even though our prize mechanism is not gambling, our concept will engage fans in a similar manner without the potential loss of capital. This will entice more fans to attend the event or purchase our live stream while engaging them in the process.
The goals of the Company are twofold:
1. Enhance the spectator’s experience and interaction at live sporting events to increase attendance and create demand for our products and services.
2. Introduce new revenue streams to the sporting event and share in the benefit.
To achieve these goals, the Company has defined the following primary objectives:
Create a system that randomly assigns promotional prizes to spectators based on the outcome(s) of the contest(s).
Create a system that effectively communicates with the spectator during the event. Create a system to effectively promote the event.
Create a system to efficiently broadcast the event with monetization, both live and delayed, for events that currently do not have or are not satisfied with their current system.
Create a system to provide post event monetization for the assets and information we have obtained without being intrusive to the spectator or client.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS:
Currently, there are no direct competitors that offer our full suite of services nor are there any companies that have developed a fan engagement software system similar to ours. However, several indirect competitors exist with products or services that focus on specific parts of our offering. They include the following:
A. Broadcasting Services – Ride Pass, http://www.ridepass.com/, is a live stream service that charges $7 a month to watch their broadcast lineup. To be included in their lineup, an event must pay Ride Pass to produce the broadcast. Our broadcasting service does not cost the event any money. Instead, it provides an additional revenue stream for the event.
B. Gaming Services – Pro Fantasy Rodeo, http://www.profantasyrodeo.com/, is a fantasy sports gambling website that allows individuals to wager on the outcome of the contests within a rodeo.
Our system is not gambling and everyone, including kids, can participate and possibly win prizes. (Kids will only be allowed to participate at the event and play for their own set of prizes exclusively for them. Yes, we can print the kids their own ticket separate from the adults!)
Rodeo Guess, https://rodeoguess.com/, is a free game were a spectator attending a rodeo event can guess the outcome of certain contests within the event to win prizes. This system does not appear to add much value, if any, for the event or spectator.
50/50 ticket is a raffle fundraising game that is utilized at some events. The raffle charges a set dollar amount for each ticket which are then sold throughout the event. At the end, a single ticket is drawn and the winner holding the ticket wins 50% of all ticket sales with the remainder going to a charity or local school related group. Once again, this is much different than what we offer.
C. Fan Engagement Applications – There are multiple fan engagement applications available on the internet and mobile devices such as Fantelope, https://fantelope.com/, and Fanly, http://fanly.io/. However, these applications are more focused around managing and communicating with the fan base in a manner similar to social media. Our system includes this engagement aspect, but it represents a small percentage of the overall value our system provides.
MARKETING AND SALES:
Our plan incorporates a unique and unorthodox marketing and sales strategy for each segment we target. Our goals are simple:
1. Penetrate the segment as quickly as possible.
2. Generate support and demand for our products and services from the following groups:
Event organizers and related organizations. Event spectators and related organizations. Event contestants and related organizations. Event sponsors and segment advertisers.
This is a bold set of goals which targets almost every group participating in the segment marketplace. The keys to developing an effective marketing plan to achieve these goals are:
Develop a marketing and sales strategy for each segment that is independent of the others.
Identify and study the symbiotic relationship between the groups participating in the segment.
Research the economics that effect each group and identify potential opportunities to provide a solution.
Create a Mutualism between the groups so they all receive a net benefit from our products and services.
Disregarding the event, utilize as many of the groups as possible in our marketing efforts to take advantage of the symbiotic relationships in the segment.
With the rodeo segment and its 950 annual events as our target for Phase I of our business plan, we have developed a marketing and sales strategy to achieve our goals. Specifics are in the sections that follow.
TARGETING STRATEGY
Our targeting strategy is to introduce and market our full suite of services as one package to the associations that sanction the 950 annual events and the alliances that represent the competitors at these events. We have already contacted and have an interest from the International Professional Rodeo Association which sanctions 300 of these events. Talks have been initiated with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the World Champions Rodeo Alliance and Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association. All have indicated an interest for further discussion.
We will also be enlisting several world champions and key competitors from this segment to serve on our "advisory board". The purpose of this board is to generate interest in our package within the organizations the advisors belong to. The ones we already have spoken with and have conformation on coming aboard with us have a huge social media following. Just three of these competitors of rodeo have over 100,000 followers on social media. Social Media will play a big part in getting our company into the view of a large audience that is our customer base. In exchange the advisors will be offered an “Advisory Agreement” that entitles them to a percentage of our net profits from the rodeo segment. Ticket Plays Entertainment, being the company servicing the events of rodeo, has also included a bonus for the contestant who wins their event each night. We feel that once we reach a certain following of the rodeo events, the bonus they receive could surpass the actual prize money for winning the actual rodeo. No rodeo contestant is guaranteed anything when they pay their entry fees. And they have to wait sometimes several days to find out if they have won their respective event. Our bonus program will at least allow them to have an opportunity to get a reward each night of rodeo competition. This bonus will bring all the contestants in the sport of rodeo into our program and we will see a larger presence of people talking about and following our company.
PRODUCT/SERVICE STRATEGY
Our long-term plan is to sell our suite of services independently of one another. However, in Phase I of our plan, we will combine all of our services together as one package dependent upon each other. This will introduce the rodeo segment to our full suite of services. More importantly, this will also allow us to price our package to maximize penetration into the marketplace. If a rodeo is already using another vendor for the promotion or broadcasting of the event, our pricing strategy will ensure that these vendors are replaced with our package as they will not be able to compete with our price or depths of our service offering.
PRICING STRATEGY
Our long-term plan is to price each product and service independently of one another. However, in Phase I of our plan, we will use a simple bundled price for our full suite of services. Better yet, we will not require any payment in advance. Instead, as a display of confidence in what our package will offer, we will price our package as follows:
1. If there is an increase in the attendance over the prior year, we will receive 50% of the ticket price on the increase.
2. In exchange for the broadcasting rights for the event, we will stream it live through our website to anyone that purchases the pay-per-view for a set dollar amount. 20% of the revenue from this live stream will be paid back to the event organizer per performance.
This pricing strategy was designed to minimize the risk to the event for trying our services and assures that any conflicting services obtained in the past are replaced by our package. We also believe this is the best pricing strategy to maximize our penetration into the rodeo segment.
As stated in the introduction, our marketing and sales strategy is unique. The symbiotic relationships within a segment play an important role in the promotion of our products and services.
SYMBIOTIC STRATEGY
The word symbiotic is defined as “denoting a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.” An integral part of our marketing strategy is to identify, study, and utilize the symbiotic relationships within the segments we offer our products and services. For the rodeo segment, the following groups are part of this symbiotic relationship:
Event Organizers | Event Associations & Organizations
Spectators | Contestant Organizations
Contestants | Event Promotors & Advertisers
The event does not exist without participation or support from these groups and vice versa. It is obvious what our products and services provide to the event and spectator. So how do we gain support for our products and services from every group? More importantly, how do we excite the other groups about what we have to offer? A further study of the economics of the rodeo segment identifies the following:
1. Living off a contestant’s winnings is almost impossible. Contestants usually pay to enter an event and, after the association takes a percentage, the amount paid in is distributed to the winner(s) of each respective contest. If 40 or 50 contestants are enter in their events, the odds of winning anything is dismal.
2. Event promotors and advertisers use the events to promote their products. However, the events do not collect key demographic information on the spectators nor do they provide a direct & personal method to communicate with the spectators.
From this study, we can structure a solution for these groups that will earn their support for our products and services. The solutions follow:
1. For the contestants, we will add to their prize pool using a percentage of the revenue we generate from ticket commissions and broadcast revenue. In addition, we will provide a nightly bonus pool for the winner of each event that win. The percentage of our revenue will be between 10% to 20% which would be comparable to what they currently would receive from the event if they win the overall.
By receiving this bonus the contestants now have an incentive to drive traffic to our pay-per-view broadcast and the event. If the contestant organizations are truly concerned for the welfare of the contestant, they will also have an incentive to do the same.
2. For the promotors and advertisers, we can utilize the demographical information our spectator accounts will compile and the direct and personal connection our phone application will provide. Whether its streaming a message or commercial during the event or providing a coupon to a specific demographic within the group, the value added will be material and something we can monetize. The possibilities to develop this aspect of our plan is endless.
As can be seen, we have now integrated the Company into this symbiotic relationship in the segment. This aspect of our marketing and sales strategy is well suited to create a dependency on our products and services. This will lead to future growth and deter potential competition.
SALES STRATEGY
Our sales strategy rests on the shoulders of the members of the company. They will have direct contact and discussions with the associations and organizations discussed above. The use of an advisory board comprised of key individuals within the rodeo segment will also be instrumental to introducing and selling our package to the events.
The primary strategy for selling our package to the event is communicating how our pricing strategy works and the potential benefit it will deliver for the event. There are no upfront costs for the event organizers to have us come to their event.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Rasy Forrest, President & CEO:
Rasy Forrest has worked as a manager in the construction industry for the last 12 years with a primary focus on civil construction. He is heavily involved with rodeo events and was a member of the PRCA and IPRA rodeo associations as well as numerous other rodeo organizations. Rasy is a former competitor at these events and has siblings that continue to compete. His well-established contacts within the industry will be instrumental in getting Ticket Plays Entertainment in the door at the associations and organizations.
Rocky Crusha, Vice President of Broadcasting:
Rocky Crusha is a former actor known for his role in American Experience, a 2006 TV series about the life of outlaw Jesse James. He was an actor and extra for 20 years and considers himself an avid fan of rodeo. Rocky is experienced in all aspects of the film and video production process.
His broad experience in Hollywood will be instrumental in producing a high-quality video and entertainment product and developing the systems used to engage the spectators.
B. Ross McKenzie, Vice President of Sales:
Ross has been in sales for the last 33 years working for various companies. He was part of a family trucking and materials business and has worked for truck & trailer dealerships throughout the state. Ross has also been a licensed auctioneer for the past 45 years in the central and southern parts of Texas. He also considers himself an avid rodeo fan and has volunteered or been involved with several rodeos including Houston and San Antonio.
His sales experience and face to face communication skills will be instrumental in communicating our service package to the rodeo and all other segments within the sports industry.
PROFESSIONAL & ADVISORY SUPPORT
The following third parties will be utilized for their expertise in their respective areas:
Professional Employer Organization (PEO):
A PEO is a service company that provides payroll, benefits, and other functions expected from a company’s human resource department. They are unique because they create a “co-employment” relationship with the clients they serve. This is a legal obligation where the PEO shares the risk of employment with the client. The benefit to the client is the ability to offer their employees a full benefit package, use of the PEO’s federal tax ID and tax compliance system, full leverage of the PEO’s client base to control costs, and the peace of mind that they have access to the PEO’s human resource expertise and legal guidance to handle any issues that arise. With less than 100 employees, a PEO is cost effective at approximately $800 per employee per year.
Chief Financial Officer:
James S. Hackney, the President of Hackney Financial, will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) until a full-time employee is required. His company offers CFO and accounting services to small to medium companies. He specializes in the manufacturing, construction, technology, and broadcasting industries and offers 26 years of experience at his trade. James will develop and manage the day to day operations of the accounting department and system, consult with management on federal and state tax matters, and assist in any other manner requested.
While employed at KPMG Peat Marwick, James managed the initial public offering of Metro Networks, Inc., a broadcasting company owned by Texas billionaire David Saperstein and later merged with Westwood One for $1.25 billion in stock. Prior to founding Hackney Financial, James served as Vice President of Finance at Lawler Foods, Inc., an international desert manufacturer that was later sold to a private investment company for over $100 million dollars.
Website & TP-System:
Our website and web application will be created and maintained by Cybervn. Cybervn is a Texas based application and software development company that specializes in small to medium-sized businesses and projects of our type.
Intellectual Property Attorney:
Our non-provisional application for patent will be filed by Richard Knight, Esq. of Houston Texas. His firm can also provide any trademark or copyright requirements we may have.
Video Host & Live-View Services:
To host our event videos and provide our branded live stream pay-per-view services, we will use Brightcove. Brightcove is a leader in providing streaming services to businesses of all sizes and offers a flexible price structure to satisfy our current and future bandwidth requirements. We are planning for a time in the future of having a actual TV channel dedicated to our servicing platform.
Event Marketing:
To manage the digital marketing of each event that we promote, we will use social media groups and multiple video companies to drive attendance to our events and live stream.
Gaming Lawyer:
To consult the Company on gaming law, we will use Harry E White from Nickols & White, PLLC. Nickols & White is a firm that specializes in criminal and civil defense litigation with experience in gaming law.
OPERATIONS STRATEGY
In Phase I of our business plan, the operational strategy is to keep things as simple as possible. The members of the Company will do most of the labor which includes ticket distribution and broadcast production. In the event operational cash is not available for payment of this labor, this provides a flexible solution to the issue without affecting operations. Using the members residences as a base of operations will prevent unnecessary use of funds on general and administrative overhead until Phase I is successfully completed.
SCOPE OF OPERATIONS
The scope of operations will revolve around the services necessary to successfully implement
Phase I of our business plan. This includes using the members for the following:
Soliciting our products and services to our target audience. Setup and operation of the TP-System for each event.
Procurement of the event prizes.
Marketing the event to the events target audience.
Providing the labor at each event to distribute the tickets generated by the TP-System and the prizes awarded to the spectators.
Providing the labor at each event to produce the live-stream broadcast.
All other services necessary to run a successful company, but not critical to the results of operations, will be outsourced so that the members can focus on our critical aspects. The outsourced services include human resources and accounting, legal, video hosting & streaming, social marketing distribution platform, and website & software development.
LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
Legal Sweepstakes vs. Illegal Lottery:
In addition to the software patent discussed elsewhere in this plan, the Company’s primary goal and services revolve around the use of sweepstakes. Sweepstakes are prize giveaways where the winners are drawn at random from among all valid entries. For our purpose, valid entries are based on the result of a contest. The U.S. has strict laws barring private lotteries. In order to be legal, sweepstakes have to differentiate themselves from lotteries. A lottery is defined by law as a promotion that has all three of the following elements:
1. The promotion is offering prizes that have value.
2. The winners of the promotion are chosen at random.
3. There is an element of consideration.
To avoid being classified as an illegal lottery, sweepstakes must ensure that at least one of these elements is missing. As such, legitimate sweepstakes usually eliminate the element of
consideration. Consideration is loosely defined as something of monetary value to the company offering the promotion. This includes purchasing a ticket for entry. If a legitimate giveaway requires you to buy a product to enter, it must also offer a non-purchase entry method that lets people enter without spending any money (GRAUSCHOPF, 2019).
The "non-purchase entry" is the method we will use to appease the federal statutes. Certain states may have their own sweepstakes laws. As such, the Company will utilize a gaming attorney to ensure that we abide by all state law surrounding this issue.
Tax Matters:
The federal tax code requires a company distributing a sweepstakes prize to issue an annual 1099-MISC form to all recipients receiving a prize equal to or greater than $600. Unlike gambling and lottery payments, the tax code does not require a company to withhold any taxes.
In conclusion,
We feel that there is a significant market for our company and as stated there are no distinguishable competitors. And having a software patent protection already established Ticket Plays Entertainment will corner the sports market with our program.
Ticket Plays Entertainment website and social media accounts will be up shortly after the launch of this campaign. One will be able to find us at our website, Ticket Plays . com, and our Facebook and Twitter accounts, Ticket Plays and Ticket Plays Entertainment. We look forward to connecting with you, the investor, and setting the stage for you to come aboard with our company.
Thank You
Rasy Forrest
254-431-9465
[email protected]