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Previous 5 Entries
2005 Bordeaux Tasting
I was invited to a tasting of 2005 Bordeaux's tonight by the International Wine and Food Society. It was the... (more)
Cor.kz is Released For Sale in the iPhone App Store!
So a couple of friends/buddies/partners and I have done an iPhone App (opens iTunes) called Cor.kz... It's all about wine!... (more)
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff luncheon
While I get to go to a lot of cool events due to my "past life" in the concert business... (more)
People Really do Read This Thing!
Who would have ever thought that people actually read this blog/site/thing...? I went to pick up a friend for dinner... (more)
Police to Manage Film Location Security
There is an article in today's Los Angeles Times about security on film set locations. It mentions how most of... (more)
2005 Bordeaux Tasting
I was invited to a tasting of 2005 Bordeaux's tonight by the International Wine and Food Society. It was the... (more)
Cor.kz is Released For Sale in the iPhone App Store!
So a couple of friends/buddies/partners and I have done an iPhone App (opens iTunes) called Cor.kz... It's all about wine!... (more)
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff luncheon
While I get to go to a lot of cool events due to my "past life" in the concert business... (more)
People Really do Read This Thing!
Who would have ever thought that people actually read this blog/site/thing...? I went to pick up a friend for dinner... (more)
Police to Manage Film Location Security
There is an article in today's Los Angeles Times about security on film set locations. It mentions how most of... (more)
September 17, 2006
Ticketmaster and Their Change of Heart Regarding the Secondary Market
Posted by goodman on September 17, 2006 1:59 PM
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There was a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (article and video, $ site) about Ticketmaster and what they are doing about their rivals selling tickets in the secondary/brokerage market.
The crux is that Ticketmaster is finally getting competition for services, but I don't think that the article hit the nail on the head. I have some experience in this area, and I don' think that this is the real issue.... Ticketmaster isn't going to lose a whole lot of business to folks reselling tickets. This has been an issue for many years and the only difference between today's digital age and the past is that the digital age has done a lot to legitimize the business. So the secondary market isn't as shady as it was...
Who cares?!? Re-sales of season tickets and the secondary is small compared to the number of tickets available. Ticketmaster is even rolling out these services (the article even comments on this). Clients don't want to have to deal with multiple inventories, so if you are a Ticketmaster client, there is very little need for StubHub (and their use would be a violation of the Ticketmaster contract, from what I know), and you'll most likely use the same services offered by Ticketmaster.
So what is Ticketmaster's greatest threat? In my opinion it's the internet itself. In years past, what made the ticketing industry is that they aggregated a fractured market and provided distribution.... Customers (the public) could go and get tickets at outlets/phones/internet (i.e. tons of "touch points") and clients got a service and a potential revenue center (money sharing of service charges, etc.). But that aggregation and access is now done by the internet itself. And with today's branding and marketing push, why would a company let another take that away from them?
Staples paid millions of dollars for the naming rights of The Staples Center in Los Angeles, and yet all the ads for shows say, "Get your tickets at Ticketmaster". With the advent of the internet, where even Ticketmaster is selling 60-70% of their tickets online, why isn't the tag line, "Get your tickets at StaplesCenter.com"?
So what is Ticketmaster's biggest threat... branding!
The crux is that Ticketmaster is finally getting competition for services, but I don't think that the article hit the nail on the head. I have some experience in this area, and I don' think that this is the real issue.... Ticketmaster isn't going to lose a whole lot of business to folks reselling tickets. This has been an issue for many years and the only difference between today's digital age and the past is that the digital age has done a lot to legitimize the business. So the secondary market isn't as shady as it was...
Who cares?!? Re-sales of season tickets and the secondary is small compared to the number of tickets available. Ticketmaster is even rolling out these services (the article even comments on this). Clients don't want to have to deal with multiple inventories, so if you are a Ticketmaster client, there is very little need for StubHub (and their use would be a violation of the Ticketmaster contract, from what I know), and you'll most likely use the same services offered by Ticketmaster.
So what is Ticketmaster's greatest threat? In my opinion it's the internet itself. In years past, what made the ticketing industry is that they aggregated a fractured market and provided distribution.... Customers (the public) could go and get tickets at outlets/phones/internet (i.e. tons of "touch points") and clients got a service and a potential revenue center (money sharing of service charges, etc.). But that aggregation and access is now done by the internet itself. And with today's branding and marketing push, why would a company let another take that away from them?
Staples paid millions of dollars for the naming rights of The Staples Center in Los Angeles, and yet all the ads for shows say, "Get your tickets at Ticketmaster". With the advent of the internet, where even Ticketmaster is selling 60-70% of their tickets online, why isn't the tag line, "Get your tickets at StaplesCenter.com"?
So what is Ticketmaster's biggest threat... branding!