Switching Times from Season to Single Tickets Ertan Yakıcı and Serhan Duran Abstract In this paper, we developed the basic problem with only one switch from selling bundles to selling single tickets to a new version where early switch to the low-demand event is also allowed. The resulting policy is defined by a set of thresh- old pairs of times and remaining inventory, which determine the timing of the opti- mal switches. 1. Introduction In sports and entertainment (S&E) industry, one of the most important market seg- mentations is that some customers buy season packages, or bundles of tickets to events during the season, while others buy individual tickets. Season ticket holders are important to the success of the organization, since they are more likely to donate to the organization or renew tickets in the future. As the common S&E industry practice, first season tickets are put on the sale, and the individual tickets follow them by a time lag. In some cases, this switching date is announced in advance (1), but in many other cases the date is announced after the start of the selling season. For example, the Atlanta Hawks basketball team announced by email when single tickets went on sale for the 2008-2009 season. A key reason for this practice is simple: the organization can adapt the switching time to the realization of demand and improve overall profit. The time uncertainty in starting the sales of single tickets by the organization can also encourage customers to buy season tickets to ensure attending popular events or obtaining good seats. Ertan Yakıcı Middle East Technical University, e-mail: e156477@metu.edu.tr Serhan Duran Middle East Technical University, e-mail: sduran@ie.metu.edu.tr 1