(CelebrityAccess News Service) – Ticketmaster is planning to auction tickets for concerts through its Internet site, ticketmaster.com, as a way of competing with scalpers and ticket brokers to get the highest price in the market for a ducat. Ticket prices have skyrocketed in past years due to scalpers and brokers getting the highest ticket prices the market will bear and thus setting the new economics of what a ticket is worth.
Ticket sales on the Internet is serious business with eBay having over 20,000 tickets available for sale recently. Ticketmaster, however, will not be deciding which tickets to put on auction. Promoters, managers, agents, and venues will make that decision. Some tickets will probably include VIP packages with possibly a signed t-shirt, meet and greet and even a VIP room for drinks and food.
Once the auction service goes live, Ticketmaster will receive flat fees or a percentage of the winning bids, to be decided with the operators of each event, said Sean Moriarty, Ticketmaster's executive vice president for products, technology and operations, in the New York Times. –by Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
Ticketmaster and New York Giants Launch Online Ticket Fowarding and TeamExchange
(CelebrityAccess News Service) –- Ticketmaster has reached an agreement with the New York Giants to launch a series of new initiatives designed to add a new level of convenience to the season subscriber experience and enhance the value of their ticket packages. The programs also represent a new opportunity for individuals on the team's lengthy season ticket "wait list," which is the group exclusively targeted to benefit from this new initiative.
Highlighted in the agreement is Giants TeamExchange, a new advanced aftermarket ticket service that creates an online marketplace for the team's season subscribers to sell their unused tickets to fans presently wait-listed for season tickets. The Giants are the first team in the NFL to launch Ticketmaster's aftermarket service.
"We are pleased to be able to offer Giants fans the latest technology created to maximize the value of their ticket purchase and improve their overall experience," said Giants EVP and COO, John Mara. "These new products are all designed to offer added convenience, and we are proud to be the first in line among the NFL to bring it to our fans."
"With the launch of Giants TeamExchange, wait-listed fans who don't currently hold tickets for the sold out Giants will now have the opportunity to enjoy great football. It's a win for football fans and a win for Giants Season Ticket holders," said John Pleasants, president and CEO of Ticketmaster.
The programs will launch with the 2003 Giants season and will include:
— Account Manager: Creates an online gateway for season ticket
holders to manage their accounts and tickets in real-time through
www.giants.com . Built on the Ticketmaster Archtics system, Account
Manager provides a subscribers the
opportunity to update account information, receive personalized
information from the team and sell or email tickets to others using the
TeamExchange, Ticket Forwarding and ticketFast technologies;
— ticketFast: Allows season ticket holders to download and print
their tickets at the click of a mouse. This saves
the ticket holder the time and trouble of having to receive the actual
tickets through the mail or go to the box office to retrieve the
tickets at Will Call. Like the Giants TeamExchange product, ticketFast
features Ticketmaster's barcoding technology to guarantee the
authenticity and safety of the transaction;
— Giants TeamExchange: Creates an online marketplace for season
subscribers to re-sell their unused tickets. This new integrated
technology foundation features real-time barcode authentication
providing a secure, easy-to-use service for fans. Fans purchasing
tickets through the Giants TeamExchange service will be issued a new
ticket through email using Ticketmaster's ticketFast with a new and
unique barcode for entry. The season ticket holder's original ticket
will be cancelled and invalidated and the team will credit the season
ticket holder's account. If a new fan is not found, the season ticket
holder will be notified and the ticket will remain valid for entry.
The new TeamExchange system interacts seamlessly with the existing
Ticketmaster ticketing software and all transactions are electronic and
take place conveniently over the Internet;
— Ticket Forwarding: Allows season ticket holders to maximize use of
their tickets by forwarding tickets they are unable to use to another
consumer electronically. Once the tickets have been forwarded through
email, the user simply downloads and prints their tickets using
Ticketmaster's ticketFast technology; and
— Giants Touchdown for Teens: Allows season ticket holders the option to
donate otherwise unused tickets to the United Way's Community
Achievement Project in the Schools (CAPS) program. This program makes
donated tickets available to at-risk students as an incentive to stay
in school and succeed. –by Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
Ticketmaster Establishes New Ticketing Initiatives with Carolina Hurricanes
(CelebrityAccess News Service) –- Ticketmaster and the Carolina Hurricanes have signed a multi-year extension to their existing ticketing agreement that will include state-of-the-art venue and team technology installations. As part of the agreement, Ticketmaster will continue to sell and distribute single tickets to all Hurricanes games and will now provide the software to handle all season ticketing services.
"The Hurricanes organization strives to continually increase the return on investment for our ticket package buyers. The benefits associated with this adjustment in the ticketing system is the latest in that effort," said Scott Tippins, director of Ticket Sales for the Carolina Hurricanes. "By listening and responding to our fans, we are now able provide new capabilities to the owners of Hurricanes season tickets and mini season ticket packages."
Highlighted in the new technology agreement are the installations of the Archtics ticketing platform, which supports AccountManager and AccessManager products. AccessManager, Ticketmaster's advanced automated access control ticketing system, will give the Hurricanes the ability to monitor RBC Center entry traffic and validate tickets in real-time, expedite replacement of lost tickets, eliminate wrong day event tickets and authenticate event admissions. With the implement of AccessManager, fans will now be able to log-on to ticketmaster.com and electronically purchase, download and print their Hurricane ticket(s) at the click of a mouse using ticketFast electronic delivery, providing a secure, easy-to-use service.
One of the first NHL teams to install the Platinum version of AccountManager, Hurricanes season ticket holders will enjoy the enhanced convenience of managing, making payments and renewing their season ticket accounts online. AccountManager Platinum gives subscribers access to free ticket forwarding, allowing them to maximize use of their tickets by forwarding tickets they are unable to use to another person electronically.
"Since the Hurricanes came to the Carolinas in 1997 we have enjoyed a great relationship with the fans and leaders of their organization and are extremely happy to be extending our agreement to now include venue access control and season ticketing management," said Stuart Klein, general manager of Ticketmaster Raleigh. "Installing Ticketmaster's innovative suite of ticketing products will effectively work to drive business by filling seats and satisfying season ticket holders' desire to control their own tickets in the most hands-on, personal way possible." –by Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
