WO2004104893A1

WO2004104893A1 - A system for and method of distributing tickets

Info

Publication number: WO2004104893A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/000670
Authority: WO
Inventors: Grant Langley Hohepa Shaw
Original assignee: Shaw Ip Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2003-05-21
Filing date: 2004-05-21
Publication date: 2004-12-02
Also published as: AU2003902475A0

Abstract

A system (10) for distributing tickets for an event includes a plurality of items (24, 44, 52) for supply to prospective event attendees, each item (24, 44, 52) including indicia (36, 48, 64) representative of an event and a unique identifier (40, 50, 68), a database (12) for storing a plurality of items records, each item record including information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers (40, 50, 68), and a control unit (14) arranged to receive information indicative of at least one of the unique identifiers (40, 50, 68) from a remote location. When information indicative of a particular unique identifier (40, 50, 68) is received by the control unit (14) from a remote location, the item record associated with the particular unique identifier is updated so as to indicate that the item (24, 44, 52) or a portion (32, 46) of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event. A corresponding method and an item useable with the system and method are also disclosed.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF DTSTRTBTTTTNG TICKETS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for and method of distributing tickets.

Rackgronnri of the Invention

It will be understood that for the purposes of this specification, the term "ticket" will be understood to mean any document or article which serves to gain entry to an event, activity or mode of transport by a person in possession of the document or article.

It will also be understood that for the purposes of this specification, the term "item" will be understood to mean any document or article which is receivable by a person and which is capable of being transported by the person to an event.

Admittance tickets for admitting a spectator to an event such as a sporting event or a musical event are widely used. Such tickets are generally purchased from a ticket vending machine or from a booking office either in person or by telephone. In recent times, it has also been possible to purchase admittance tickets for an event via the Internet.

In order to purchase such a ticket, a prospective event attendee must be aware of information which identifies the event, and must either visit a booking office or ticket vending machine, or must contact a ticket vendor by telephone or via the Internet. However, visiting a booking office or ticket vending machine is time consuming, and purchasing a ticket by telephone or the Internet involves a delay between purchasing and receiving the ticket.

Furthermore, with both the abovementioned ticket purchase options, there is generally no direct marketing for the event to prospective attendees and, accordingly, the level of marketing to prospective attendees not normally attending such events is minimal. Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for distributing tickets for an event, said system including: a plurality of items for supply to prospective event attendees, each item including indicia representative of an event and a unique identifier; a database for storing a plurality of item records, each item record including information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers; and a control unit arranged to receive information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location; the arrangement being such that when information indicative of a particular unique identifier is received by the control unit from a remote location, the item record associated with the particular unique identifier is updated so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event.

At least one of the plurality of items may be a document or an article.

In one arrangement, at least one of the items is forwarded to a prospective event attendee with a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee. With this arrangement, the bill may include a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket. The ticket portion may be incorporated into the bill and may be separable from the bill portion, for example by providing the bill with perforations.

In addition, or alternatively, the items may include at least one beverage container. With this arrangement, a beverage container may include a ticket portion applied to and separable from the beverage container, the ticket portion being validatable as a ticket. Alternatively, a ticket portion may be incorporated into the beverage container, for example, by printing the ticket portion onto the beverage container. In addition, or alternatively, the items may include at least one receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

The control unit may be arranged to receive information indicative of a unique identifier from a conventional telephone, a mobile telephone, a computing device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a communications enabled device associated with digital television services and/or a multi-media service (MMS) system. The control unit may be arranged to receive information indicative of a unique identifier in SMS format or in a format associated with a MMS system.

Preferably, the system is arranged to facilitate financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket. For this purpose, the system may be arranged to receive payments by credit card. In addition, or alternatively, for embodiments wherein items are supplied to prospective event attendees with or as part of a bill, the system may be arranged so as to include an amount appropriate for purchase of a ticket on a subsequent bill supplied to the prospective event attendee.

In one arrangement, at least one of the items may include one or more graphical representations associated with the event. The graphical representations may include graphical representations of one or more participants in the event or of one or more teams of participants in the event.

In one arrangement, at least one of the items includes a ticket portion having first and second ticket parts which are separable from each other, a first ticket part being retained by an event representative on entry to the event, and a second ticket part being retained by an event attendee.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of distributing tickets for an event, said method including the steps of: disposing indicia representative of an event on a plurality of items; disposing a unique identifier on each of said items; recording a plurality of item records in a database, each item record including information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers; supplying said items to a plurality of prospective event attendees; facilitating reception of information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location; and when a particular unique identifier is received from a remote location, updating the item record associated with the particular unique identifier so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event.

At least one of the plurality of items may be a document or an article.

In one arrangement, the method further includes the step of forwarding at least one of the items to a prospective event attendee with a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee. With this arrangement, the bill may include a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket. The ticket portion may be incorporated into the bill and may be separable from the bill portion, for example by providing the bill with perforations.

In addition, or alternatively, the items may include at least one beverage container. With this arrangement, a beverage container may include a ticket portion applied to and separable from the beverage container, the ticket portion being validatable as a ticket.

In addition, or alternatively, the items may include at least one receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

The step of facilitating reception of information indicative of a unique identifier may further include the step of facilitating reception of information indicative of a unique identifier from a conventional telephone, a mobile telephone, a computing device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a communications enabled device associated with digital television services and/or a multi-media service (MMS) system. The information indicative of a unique identifier may be in SMS format or in a format associated with a MMS system.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of facilitating financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket. The step of facilitating financial transactions may include the step of facilitating receipt of payments by credit card. In addition, or alternatively, for embodiments wherein items are supplied to prospective event attendees with or as part of a bill, the method may further include the step of including an amount appropriate for purchase of a ticket on a subsequent bill supplied to the prospective event attendee.

The method may further include the step of including one or more graphical representations associated with the event on at least one of the items. The graphical representations may include graphical representations of one or more participants in the event or of one or more teams of participants in the event.

In one arrangement, the method further includes the step of providing at least one item which includes a ticket portion having first and second ticket parts which are separable from each other, a first ticket part being retained by an event representative on entry to the event, and a second ticket part being retained by an event attendee.

In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an item for distribution to prospective event attendees and validatable as a ticket for the event, said item including: indicia representative of an event; and a unique identifier corresponding to a unique identifier included in an item record stored in a database; the arrangement being such that when information indicative of a particular unique identifier is forwarded to a control unit arranged to receive information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location, the item record associated with the particular unique identifier is updated so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event. In one arrangement, the item is a document.

The item may be incorporated into a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee, the bill including a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket. The ticket portion may be separable from the bill portion.

The item may include a receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

In an alternative arrangement, the item is an article.

The article may be a beverage container and the beverage container may include a ticket portion applied to and separable from the beverage container, the ticket portion including a unique identifier.

The item may include at least one graphical representation associated with the event. The at least one graphical representation includes at least one graphical representation of one or more participants in the event.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for distributing tickets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of an item which forms part of the system shown in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an alternative item which forms part of the system shown in Figure 1 ;

Figures 4a and 4b are diagrammatic front and rear representations of a further alternative item forming part of the system shown in Figure 1 ; and

Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of distributing tickets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of an Embodiment of the Present Invention

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, there is shown a ticket distribution system 10 for direct marketing to and distributing tickets to prospective event attendees.

The system 10 includes a database 12 for storing a plurality of item records associated with an event, each item record including a unique identifier and an indication as to whether the unique identifier corresponds to a valid ticket.

The system 10 also includes a control unit 14 for coordinating operations in the system 10, and for adding item records to the database 12 and modifying item records in the database 12.

The control unit 14 is arranged so as to facilitate reception of communications from remote locations, which communications are useable by the control unit 14 to update item records in the database 12 so as to indicate that respective unique identifiers associated with the item records correspond to valid tickets useable to gain access to an event.

The communications to the control unit 14 may take any suitable form. In this example, the communications may be forwarded to the control unit 14 using a computing device 16 arranged to forward communications to the control unit 14 via the Internet 18. In addition, or alternatively, communications may be forwarded to the control unit 14 using a conventional telephone 20 or using a mobile telephone 22. With a conventional telephone, communications may be forwarded to the control unit 14 using conventional touch tone recognition technology and audible menus. With the mobile telephone 22, communications may be forwarded to the control unit 14 using SMS. However, it will be understood that any device which is capable of forwarding communications to the control unit 14 in a format which is interpretable by the control unit 14 is envisaged, including communications enabled devices 21 associated with digital television services and personal. digital assistants 23.

As shown in Figure 2, the system 10 also includes an item, in this example in the form of a bill 24 for telephone services provided to a prospective event attendee, the bill 24 including a bill portion 25 and a ticket portion 32.

The bill portion 25 includes service provider indicia 26 which identifies the service provider associated with the bill 24, itemised services indicia 28 which identifies the relevant services provided to the prospective event attendee by the service provider, and service cost indicia 30 which identifies the total cost associated with the received services.

The ticket portion 32 is separable from the bill portion 25 by first perforations 34. The ticket portion 32 includes event indicia 36 which identifies relevant event information such as the time, location and participants in an event and, in this example, graphical representations 38 of participants in the event. In this example, the graphical representations 38 illustrate one player from each participant team in the event, although it will be understood that other graphical representations relevant to the event or participants in the event may be provided.

The ticket portion 32 also includes a unique identifier 40 which corresponds to a unique identifier associated with an item record stored in the database 12.

The ticket portion 32 also includes second perforations 42 for facilitating separation of parts of the ticket from each other so that a first part of the ticket portion 32 may be retained by an event representative and a second part of the ticket portion 32 may be retained by an event attendee.

It will be appreciated that although the ticket portion 32 in the present example is integral with and separable from a bill portion 25, other arrangements are possible. For example, the ticket portion may be separate from the bill portion 25 and forwarded to the prospective event attendee with the bill portion 25.

It will be understood that on receiving the bill 24, a prospective event attendee is provided with a ticket portion 32 which is similar in appearance to an event ticket but which, until validated, may not be used to gain access to the event.

In order to validate the ticket portion 32, the prospective event attendee communicates the unique identifier 40 to the control unit 14 in any suitable way, for example using a computing device 16 and the Internet 18, a conventional telephone 20, a mobile telephone 22, a PDA, or a multi-media service (MMS) system, so as to cause the control unit 14 to update the relevant item record in the database 12 to indicate that the unique identifier 40 associated with the ticket portion 32 and with the relevant item record corresponds to a valid ticket. When the relevant item record in the database 12 has been updated in this way, the ticket portion 32 is effectively transformed into a valid ticket useable to gain entry to the event identified by the event indicia 36.

It will be appreciated that by forwarding a validatable ticket portion 32 to a prospective event attendee in this way, the prospective event attendee is able to obtain an event ticket without the need to visit a ticket vending machine or booking office and without any delay occurring between purchase and receipt of the ticket.

It will also be appreciated that forwarding a validatable ticket portion to a prospective event attendee in this way constitutes a form of direct marketing to the prospective event attendee for a future event.

In order to validate a ticket portion 32, a prospective event attendee would also normally be required to pay a fee. This may be achieved in any suitable way. For example, if the prospective event attendee communicates the unique identifier 40 to the control unit 14 using a computing device 16 and the Internet 18 or using a conventional telephone 20, the prospective event attendee may purchase the ticket using any suitable credit card purchasing mechanism. Alternatively, the system may be arranged such that the amount payable for the ticket appears on a subsequent bill 24 received by the event attendee from the service provider, with details of the purchased ticket appearing on the bill 24 and the cost for the ticket being included in the total cost 30.

The system 10 may be arranged such that the control unit 14 is able to update a relevant item record stored in the database 12 only after an appropriate fee has been paid by a prospective event attendee for validating the ticket portion.

Although in the present example it is intended that a ticket portion of the item and not the item itself will be used as a ticket for gaining entry to an event, it will be understood that, as an alternative, when the item has been validated the item itself may be used as a ticket for gaining entry to an event.

An alternative item which may form part of the system 10 is shown in Figure 3. In this example, the alternative item is a beverage container 44.

The beverage container 44 includes a ticket portion 46 which in this example is separable from the drinks container 44. However, it will be understood that other arrangements are possible. For example, the ticket portion 46 may be printed on the beverage container 44 and, in this way, the beverage container 44 itself would function as a validatable ticket.

The ticket portion 46 includes event indicia 48 which identifies a future event and a unique identifier 50.

The ticket portion 46 operates in essentially the same way as the ticket portion 32 shown in Figure 2 in that the ticket portion 46 is transformable into a valid ticket by communicating the unique identifier 50 to the control unit 14, the control unit 14 causing the relevant item record in the database 12 to be updated so as to indicate that the unique identifier 50 corresponds to a valid ticket.

As with the item 24 shown in Figure 2, payment for the ticket may be effected in any suitable way. For example, payment may be effected by credit card.

A further alternative item which may form part of the system 10 is shown in Figures 4a and 4b. In this example, the alternative item is a receipt 52. The receipt may be provided to a purchaser of products or services offered by a particular organisation or to particular products or services offered by an organisation.

Figure 4a shows a front surface 54 of the receipt 52. The front surface 54 includes goods provider indicia 58 which identifies the organisation providing the purchased goods or services, goods purchased indicia 60 which identifies the goods or services purchased, and the total cost 62 for the purchase.

Figure 4b shows a rear surface 56 of the receipt. The rear surface 56 includes event indicia 64 which identifies a future event, a graphical representation 66 of a participant or a team of participants in the event, and a unique identifier 68.

It will be understood that the item 52 operates in a similar way to the items 24, 44 shown in Figures 2 and 3 in that in order to transform the item 52 into a valid ticket useable to gain access to an event, a prospective event attendee communicates the unique identifier 68 to the control unit 14, the control unit 14 updating the relevant item record in the database 12 so as to indicate that the unique identifier 68 corresponds to a valid ticket.

It will be understood that although the above embodiments have been described in relation to items which take the form of a bill, a drinks container and a receipt, other items are envisaged, the important aspect being that the item is receivable by a prospective event attendee and includes information identifying a future event, and thereby serves as direct marketing to the prospective event attendee for a future event, that the item includes a unique identifier, and is thereby transformable into a valid ticket on communication of the unique identifier to the control unit 14, and that at least a portion of the item bearing the unique identifier is transportable. For example, the item may take the form of a direct marketing mail-out distributed to a plurality of prospective event attendees, and so on.

The system may also be arranged so as to facilitate seat selection by a purchaser of a ticket, for example by providing a website which enables a ticket purchaser to select a desired seat location and which communicates the selected seat location to the control unit 14. The purchaser may also be able to select a desired seat location using a mobile telephone, using a communications enabled device 21 associated with digital television services, or using a PDA 23. Prior to finalising selection of a seat, the purchaser may also be provided with a representation of the view available from a particular seat. On receipt of the selected seat location, the control unit 14 may be arranged to update the relevant item record so as to include details of the relevant selected seat location. The arrangement may be such that prospective attendees using the present system to purchase tickets have first priority in seat selection or such that no priority is given to prospective attendees using the present system over prospective attendees using other conventional ticket purchasing methods.

Operation of the system will now be described in relation to Figure 5 which illustrates steps 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 of a method of distributing tickets in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

As indicated in Figure 5, prior to an event a plurality of item records associated with the event are created and stored in the database 12, each item record including a unique identifier and an indication as to whether the unique identifier corresponds to a valid ticket. A plurality of items to be distributed to prospective event attendees are then produced, each item including a unique identifier which corresponds to a unique identifier included in an item record stored in the database 12. The items may take various forms including bills, beverage containers, receipts, marketing mail-outs, and so on. The items also include indicia which identifies the future event and may include additional information and/or graphical representations relevant to the event, such as graphical representations of one or more participants in the event.

The items are supplied to prospective attendees of an event, the method of supply depending on the type of item. For example, bills are generally supplied by mail, beverage containers sold in retail outlets, and receipts received on purchase of goods or services.

On receipt of an item bearing a unique identifier and event indicia, a prospective event attendee is able to transform the item or a portion of the item bearing the unique identifier into a valid ticket by communicating the unique identifier to the control unit 14 in any suitable way, for example using a computing device 16, a conventional telephone 20 or a mobile telephone 22. The prospective event attendee would generally also be required to pay a fee for validating the ticket, which may be effected in any suitable way, such as by credit card or by including an amount for the ticket on a subsequent bill.

On receipt of the unique identifier at the control unit 14 and, in this example, on confirmation that a ticket fee has been paid, the control unit 14 communicates with the database 12 so as to update the relevant item record to indicate that the unique identifier corresponds to a valid ticket.

It will be understood that when the item has been validated as a ticket, the item is useable as a ticket for gaining access to the event.

It will also be understood that if a prospective event attendee is unable to validate the item or a portion of the item as a ticket because all tickets for the relevant event have been sold, the prospective attendee may nevertheless still be eligible for discounts, promotions, lotteries and so on associated with the event.

Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for distributing tickets for an event, said system including: a plurality of items for supply to prospective event attendees, each item including indicia representative of an event and a unique identifier; a database for storing a plurality of item records, each item record including information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers; and a control unit arranged to receive information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location; the arrangement being such that when information indicative of a particular unique identifier is received by the control unit from a remote location, the item record associated with the particular unique identifier is updated so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the items is a document.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of the items is incorporated into a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee, the bill including a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket.

4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ticket portion is separable from the bill portion.

5. A system as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket, and so as to include an amount appropriate for purchase of a ticket on a subsequent bill supplied to the prospective event attendee.

6. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein at least one of the items includes a receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

7. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the items is an article.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the article is a beverage container.

9. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the article includes a ticket portion applied to and separable from the article, the ticket portion including a unique identifier.

10. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is arranged to receive information indicative of a unique identifier from a conventional telephone, a mobile telephone, a computing device, a PDA, a communications enabled device associated with digital television services and/or a multi-media service (MMS) system.

11. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the control unit is arranged to receive information indicative of a unique identifier in SMS format.

12. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the system is arranged to facilitate financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket.

13. A system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the system is arranged to receive payments by credit card.

14. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the items includes at least one graphical representation associated with the event.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the at least one graphical representation includes at least one graphical representation of one or more participants

16. A method of distributing tickets for an event, said method including the steps of: disposing indicia representative of an event on a plurality of items; disposing a unique identifier on each of said items; recording a plurality of item records in a database, each item record including information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers; supplying said items to a plurality of prospective event attendees; facilitating reception of information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location; and when a particular unique identifier is received from a remote location, updating the item record associated with the particular unique identifier so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event.

17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein at least one of the items is a document.

18. A method as claimed in claim 17, further including the step of forwarding at least one of the items to a prospective event attendee with a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee, the bill including a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the ticket portion is separable from the bill portion.

20. A method as claimed in claim 18 or claim 19, further including the steps of facilitating financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket, and including an amount appropriate for purchase of a ticket on a subsequent bill supplied to the prospective event attendee.

21. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein at least one of the items includes a receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

22. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein at least one of the items is an article.

23. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the article is a beverage container.

24. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the article includes a ticket portion applied to and separable from the article, the ticket portion including a unique identifier.

25. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 24, wherein the step of facilitating reception of information indicative of a unique identifier further includes the step of facilitating reception of information indicative of a unique identifier from a conventional telephone, a mobile telephone, a computing device, a PDA, a communications enabled device associated with digital television services and/or a multi-media service (MMS) system.

26. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 25, wherein the information indicative of a unique identifier is in SMS format.

27. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 26, further including the step of facilitating financial transactions for the purpose of receiving payment for providing a prospective event attendee with a valid ticket.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27, further including the step of facilitating receipt of payments by credit card.

29. A method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 28, further including the step of including at least one graphical representation associated with the event on at least one of the items.

30. A method as claimed in claim 29, wherein at least one graphical representation includes at least one graphical representation of one or more participants in the event or of one or more teams of participants in the event.

31. An item for distribution to prospective event attendees and validatable as a ticket for the event, said item including: indicia representative of an event; and a unique identifier corresponding to a unique identifier included in an item record stored in a database; the arrangement being such that when information indicative of a particular unique identifier is forwarded to a control unit arranged to receive information indicative of at least one of said unique identifiers from a remote location, the item record associated with the particular unique identifier is updated so as to indicate that the item or a portion of the item bearing the particular unique identifier is a valid ticket useable for gaining entry to the event.

32. An item as claimed in claim 31 , wherein the item is a document.

33. An item as claimed in claim 32, wherein the item is incorporated into a bill for services rendered to or proposed to be rendered to the prospective event attendee, the bill including a bill portion and a ticket portion validatable as a ticket.

34. An item as claimed in claim 33, wherein the ticket portion is separable from the bill portion.

35. An item as claimed in any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein the item includes a receipt provided to a prospective event attendee on purchase of goods or services from a retail outlet.

36. An item as claimed in claim 31 , wherein the item is an article.

37. An item as claimed in claim 36, wherein the article is a beverage container.

38. An item as claimed in claim 36, wherein the article includes a ticket portion applied to and separable from the article, the ticket portion including a unique identifier.

39. An item as claimed in any one of claims 31 to 38, wherein the item includes at least one graphical representation associated with the event.

40. A system as claimed in claim 39, wherein the at least one graphical representation includes at least one graphical representation of one or more participants in the event.