Platforms
Hockey Season-Ticket and Group Ticket Ads That Sell
To sell junior or minor hockey season and group tickets, put Google Search first to catch fans already looking for tickets, then use Meta to reach local fans, families and past buyers with separate audiences. Keep targeting local, test objectives instead of guessing, and move budget only to what proves it sells.
Why do junior and minor hockey teams need their own ticket plan?
Junior and minor hockey teams usually sell to a local market. A season ticket is a bigger decision than a single game, and group tickets are often bought by someone organizing for others. That puts the weight on local targeting, on past buyers, and on making the case more than once.
A note on our numbers: we haven't published a hockey case study. Every figure in this article is a pro sports result from a pro football client, labelled as our case studies label it. We use them to show how each channel and method behaves, not as a promise of hockey results.
What does Google Search do for hockey tickets?
Search catches demand that already exists. A fan typing the team's name plus "tickets" or "season tickets" has already decided they're interested.
At the pro level, for a pro football client, the campaign started on Display, where ROAS fell to 0.05. We moved the budget to high-intent Google Search. Search ROAS reached 4.73x at the early check, peaked at 20.98x 27 days in, and the campaign total over about 12 weeks was 14.06 Search ROAS.
The steps behind that, all from the case study:
Pivot to intent. We moved the budget from Display to high-intent Search.
Radius targeting. We started with a 125-mile radius around the stadium and widened it to 200 miles plus the surrounding states once demand was proven.
Keyword architecture. We built 89 keywords across broad, phrase and exact match, backed by negative keywords.
Deliberate scaling. The daily budget grew only as returns held.
AI-assisted copy. We wrote and iterated the ad copy with ChatGPT, then optimized every week.
For a hockey team, we'd start with a tighter, local radius and widen it only if returns hold.
What does Meta do for season and group tickets?
Meta reaches local fans who aren't searching yet, and it's where your own customer data does the most work.
At the pro level, for a pro football client, Meta ROAS rose 303% year over year in the same calendar window. In one month alone, the account averaged 14.78 ROAS. Partnership Advantage+ Shopping campaigns averaged 30.12 ROAS.
The steps behind that, all from the case study:
Custom audiences per campaign type, for example a core-fan audience and a separate family-friendly audience.
First-party customer lists, uploaded as CSV, for sharper targeting.
Matching the objective to the campaign type, backed by A/B tests (Traffic vs Engagement, Sales vs Traffic).
Reallocating budget to the top-performing ad sets.
For hockey, that maps neatly: a core-fan audience for season tickets, a family-friendly audience for family and group packs, and past single-game buyers uploaded as a customer list.
How should you handle group tickets?
We don't have a published group-ticket case study, so we won't quote group-ticket results. The methods above still apply. Give group buyers their own campaign and audience rather than mixing them with season-ticket fans, test the objective, and move budget to the ad sets that convert.
Which channel should come first?
For most junior and minor hockey teams, we'd plan it like this:
Search first, because it captures fans who already want tickets.
Meta next, with separate audiences for core fans and families, plus your customer lists.
Other channels as they earn it. Video, ChatGPT Ads and other placements can earn a place depending on the market.
We size each channel around results, not habit, and we review performance regularly against a verified baseline.
See our sports work, the pro football Search case study, the pro football Meta case study, our guide to minor league season-ticket ads, pro football Search ads and Meta ROAS year over year.
Planning your next season-ticket or group drive? Let's plan it together, starting with a baseline audit. Book a call
Related: season-ticket ads for minor league teams · how we grew Meta ROAS year over year
Frequently asked questions
How should a junior or minor hockey team advertise season tickets? Start with Google Search to catch fans already looking for tickets, then use Meta with separate audiences for core fans and families plus your customer lists. Keep targeting local and scale only what proves it sells.
Is Search or Meta better for hockey tickets? They do different jobs. Search captures existing demand, and Meta reaches local fans who aren't searching yet. At the pro level, for a pro football client, Search ROAS peaked at 20.98x 27 days in, and Meta ROAS rose 303% year over year.
How do you advertise hockey group tickets? Give group buyers their own campaign and audience, test the objective, and move budget to the ad sets that convert. We don't have a published group-ticket case study, so we don't quote group results.
Do you have hockey results? Not yet as a published case study. The figures we share are pro sports results from a pro football client, used to show how each channel behaves.
Do you only use Google and Meta? No. We plan the channel mix around the goal. Video, ChatGPT Ads and other channels can earn a place depending on the market.