Cardiff Devils and Vindico Arena

The Cardiff Devils is a Welsh ice hockey team playing in the UK’s professional Elite Ice Hockey League, sometimes referred to as the British Elite League.

Founded in 1986, the Cardiff Devils were a dominant force in the early years of the professional era, winning seven league titles in this period. Acquired by a consortium of Canadian businessmen in 2014, the Devils have since won two League Championships, three Erhardt Conference titles, two Challenge Cups and consecutive Playoff titles.

The Cardiff Devils play home games at Vindico Arena, located in Cardiff’s International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay, to sell-out crowds.

 Challenge

In 2017, the Cardiff Devils embarked on a modernisation programme to move walk-up and in-person ticket sales online, aiming to simplify the customer journey and make ticketing more efficient. As a commercially smart and ambitious organisation, the club quickly evolved its goals beyond digitisation. Each year, the Devils set new commercial, ticketing, and revenue targets, seeking to leverage data insights to generate additional revenue, optimise fan engagement, and reduce time spent on non-commercial administrative tasks. Achieving these objectives required a flexible, forward-thinking ticketing system and a strong partnership approach with Future Ticketing, enabling the club to continually innovate and meet its evolving business goals.

 Solution

Working closely with the Cardiff Devils’ team, Future Ticketing implemented a fully interactive online seating plan tailored to the 3,100-seat Vindico Arena. The system supports allocated seating across season ticket holders, general admission, hospitality areas and away fans, ensuring flexibility while maintaining control and visibility.

The platform also accommodates a wide range of season ticket packages, including bundled discounts and merchandise options based on seating location. This flexibility enables the club to create compelling offers, including Gift Vouchers, while maintaining a seamless purchasing experience for supporters.

By introducing automation and streamlining internal processes, the Devils significantly reduced the manual administration involved in ticket sales. The intuitive dashboard allows the team to manage events, packages and promotions efficiently, saving time while maintaining full oversight of performance and demand.

 Value-added

The Cardiff Devils have consistently embraced new revenue opportunities and innovations available through the Future Ticketing platform, which is continuously updated with new functionality. One example is the introduction of Puck Sponsorship as an upsell within the customer journey, giving fans the opportunity to enhance their experience with a meet and greet with their preferred Devils player.

Fan engagement is central to the club’s continued growth. A 2023 study by Sports Direct ranked Cardiff Devils as the 6th most loved sports team in the UK, with a 96% engagement rating, placing them alongside major Premier League clubs. Leveraging the data insights enabled by Future Ticketing’s software and API infrastructure, the club has successfully converted highly engaged fans into season ticket holders as demand continues to grow and games regularly sell out.

Future Ticketing’s partnership with the Devils has also expanded beyond ice hockey. The platform now supports the wider activities of Vindico Arena, including public skating sessions, training programmes, beginner support sessions, advanced learn-to-skate tuition, Friday night discos, gift vouchers and group bookings. Online purchasing capabilities have encouraged repeat purchase behaviour and increased spend per head through in-journey upselling and additional amenities.

Through a combination of modern technology, automation and ongoing support, the Cardiff Devils have strengthened fan engagement, unlocked new revenue streams and created a more efficient operation both on and off the ice.