Organizer guide: Setting up season passes for hockey teams
A complete guide for hockey organizations using Showpass to sell season tickets, manage assigned seating, distribute game tickets, and run renewals — all in one place.
💡 Note: The underlying setup process is the same as described in the standard memberships documentation. This guide uses hockey-specific language (arena, home games, seating tiers, season ticket holders) and adds context for the parts that matter most for hockey teams — particularly assigned seating and ticket batching.
How season passes work for hockey teams
Showpass lets you sell season tickets directly to your fans, assign them specific seats in your arena, and automatically distribute individual game tickets as your schedule is confirmed. Season ticket holders keep their seats from season to season through a self-serve renewal process.
Here’s the full picture:
- Fans purchase a season pass and select their own seats from your arena’s seating map.
- As home games are added to your schedule, you create ticket batches to send individual game tickets to all pass holders at once.
- For playoff games, you send a hold link so season ticket holders get first access to their usual seats — without committing to the cost upfront.
- At the end of the season, pass holders receive renewal emails and can choose to keep their seats for next year before they’re released to the public.
- If a pass holder can’t make a game, they can exchange their ticket for a different home game in the same season.
💡 Before you start: Make sure your arena’s assigned seating map is set up in Showpass before creating your season pass.
Setting up your season pass
Step 1: Create your season pass
- Go to Memberships in your dashboard and click Create membership.
- Name your membership (e.g., “KIJHL 2025/26 Season Pass”).
- Set the renewal frequency to Seasonal. This is what enables renewals and single game exchanges.
- Enter a season name (e.g., “2025/26”), and set your season start and end dates to cover the full regular season.
- Set visibility to Public and click Save.
Step 2: Create your seating tiers (levels)
Levels represent the different seating sections in your arena — each with its own price. A typical hockey setup might look like this:
| Level name | Example sections | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Centre ice | Sections 1–3, rows A–E | $$$ |
| Box seats | Premium box area | $$$$ |
| General admission | Sections 4–6, rows F–N | $$ |
| Youth / senior | Same sections as GA | $ |
- From your membership group, click Manage levels → New level.
- Add a name, price, inventory (total seats available), and purchase limit per buyer.
- Repeat for each tier. Click Save after each one.
Step 3: Set up the issue tickets benefit and assign seats
This is the most important step for season passes with assigned seating. The issue tickets benefit connects your membership tiers to specific seats in your arena — so when a fan buys a Centre Ice pass, they’re picking actual seats in your Centre Ice section, not just a category.
How assigned seating works with season passes:
- You set up the issue tickets benefit and link it to your arena’s seating map.
- You assign each membership level (e.g., Centre Ice, GA) to a specific set of seats or sections on the map.
- When a fan purchases, they see the seating map and pick their exact seats within the sections available for their level.
- Those seats are locked to that fan for the entire season — every game ticket batch will deliver tickets for those same seats.
⚠️ Important: The issue tickets benefit must be added before any season passes are sold. If you set it up after sales have started, members who already purchased won’t be properly linked to their seat assignments.
To set up the benefit:
- Go to your membership group and click Add benefit.
- Select Issue tickets as the benefit type.
- Choose Assigned seating and select your arena’s seating map.
- Click Next.
- On the seating map, assign each section or block of seats to the correct membership level:
- Click a section → select the level it belongs to (e.g., Centre Ice).
- Repeat until all sections in your arena are assigned to a level.
- Sections not assigned to any level won’t be available to season pass buyers.
- Click Save.
✅ Once this is done, your season pass is ready to go on sale. Fans visiting the membership page will see your seating map and be able to pick their seats.
Step 4: Enable revenue realization
Revenue realization distributes your season pass revenue across individual games, which is important for financial reporting and is required for single game exchanges to work.
- Turn on Revenue realization in the membership settings before any season passes are sold or any tickets are issued.
Step 5: Publish and go on sale
- Click Publish on the membership group.
- Share the membership link with your fans.
- Fans select their seats and complete checkout. Each fan’s seats are locked to their account for the season.
Distributing game tickets
As your regular season home games are scheduled and created in Showpass, you’ll create ticket batches to deliver individual game tickets to all your season ticket holders at once.
How ticket batches work:
- A batch is a group of games you’re delivering tickets for. You can batch the entire regular season at once, or send batches in chunks (e.g., first half of the season, second half).
- When a batch is sent, all season ticket holders instantly receive their tickets for the included games — for their specific seats.
- Fans who purchased after a batch was already sent will get their tickets automatically as soon as they complete checkout.
⚠️ Critical: You cannot add a game to a ticket batch if that game is already on sale to the public. Block your games from public sale first, then add them to a batch to ensure all season ticket holders get their correct seats. Once the batch is sent, you can open the game to the public — and season ticket holders’ seats will already be reserved.
To create a ticket batch:
- Go to your membership group benefits and click Open ticket manager on the issue tickets benefit.
- Select Create ticket batch.
- Name the batch (e.g., “Regular season — home games 1–20”) and select the games to include.
- Choose Send tickets that are paid for to deliver tickets immediately once sent.
- Set a send date or send immediately.
For playoff games:
Playoff games aren’t guaranteed at the start of the season, so you handle them differently:
- Once your team qualifies and games are scheduled, create a batch using the Send hold link option.
- Season ticket holders receive a link to purchase their playoff seats at their usual seats — but only pay if they decide to attend. Hold links have an expiry date; after that, the seats are released.
- This gives your fans first access to their seats without forcing a commitment upfront.
Single game exchanges
If a season ticket holder can’t make it to a specific home game, they can exchange their ticket for another game in the same season — without needing to call the box office.
- Exchanges are automatically available for eligible season passes (seasonal renewal + revenue realization + issue tickets benefit).
- The fan exchanges from their Showpass account — the old ticket is voided and a new one is issued instantly.
- If your staff need to process an exchange at the box office on a fan’s behalf, see Organizer guide: Single game exchanges.
Season renewals
At the end of each season, your season ticket holders can renew their passes and keep their seats for next year — all self-serve. You add the new season to your existing membership group (no need to start from scratch) and set a renewal deadline. Members who don’t renew by the deadline have their seats released to the public.
See Setting up season pass renewals for full instructions, or the Quick guide to season renewals for a fast overview.
FAQs
Can a fan buy a season pass if they don’t have a specific seat in mind?
Yes — when they purchase, they’ll see the seating map for their tier and can pick any available seat within their section. They’re not locked in until they complete checkout.
What if a fan wants seats in two different sections?
Each membership purchase is tied to one tier/level. A fan who wants seats in both Centre Ice and GA would need to purchase two separate season passes.
Can I add more seats to a section mid-season?
You can update seat assignments on the seating map. Contact Showpass support if you need help adjusting seat assignments after sales have begun.
What happens to a fan’s seats if they don’t renew?
After the renewal deadline, their seats are released back into general inventory and become available to new buyers.
Do I need to create a new membership every season?
No — you add a new season to your existing membership group. Your levels, seating assignments, and member history all stay in place.
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