Ticketmaster of IAC, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire TicketsNow for $265 million.
Ticketmaster will create an integrated platform on which fans will be able to simultaneously review and compare ticket availability and pricing in the primary, premium and resale categories. Building upon its existing TicketExchange resale marketplaces and partnerships with the NFL, NHL and NBA, Ticketmaster will work closely with its venue, promoter, team and other live entertainment clients to offer ticket validation and electronic ticket delivery to fans purchasing in the resale marketplace. The acquisition will put Ticketmaster in colliding path with StubHub.
TicketsNow works with more than 800 professional ticket resellers that are vetted to ensure the highest levels of accountability and integrity.
Upon closing of the sale, TicketsNow will continue to operate from its Rolling Meadows and Crystal Lake, IL locations. Cheryl Rosner will continue as CEO, and the company’s current management team is expected to remain in place.
Originally posted on January 15, 2008 @ 11:48 am
Miami based Tickets of America President CEO Michael J Lipman is encouraged by publicly traded companies such as Ebay and IAC’s ability to foresee the opportunities in the billion dollar secondary resell market and believes they will pave the way for future merger and acquisitions.
The acquisition of Ticketsnow is a surprising move for Ticketmaster since the majority of tickets posted on Ticketsnow’s website are ticket brokers’ inventory, may of whom will now pull the plug by not listing them anymore as a result of this partnership. Ticketsnow’s business model caters to brokers and the majority of the web hits are from fellow brokers, not from fans listing inventory.
Ticketmaster, a dominant primary market ticket seller, actively encourages teams and concert promoters to buy and then sell their tickets on Ticketmaster’s secondary market exchange. As a result of losing several legislative battles in states such as New York and being investigated in states such as Missouri, Ticketmaster’s “Ticketexchange†and “auctions†have failed in the public eye. Ticketmaster must use the Ticketsnow brand name to market premium seats to events such as Hannah Montana to the secondary market which will inflate the prices.
The law of supply and demand dictates the price of tickets on the secondary market, consumers reselling their tickets on the Internet are a contributing factor for what the market price is, reputable companies such as http://www.ticketsofamerica.com , Ebay, and Stubhub encourage fans to buy/sell at market prices which often times causes prices to sell at less than face value. Ticketmaster, Promoters, Sports Teams, and Venue partners often hold back the supply of tickets which artificially inflates the prices by hyping the scarcity of supply and deceiving the public by saying “sold out.†This is not in the best interest of the consumer and prices are never going to be less than face value or at true market price.
From what I’ve read it appears TicketsNow has always been loyal to brokers for some reason so why is this moron suggesting that brokers will stop selling on TicketsNow? Won’t this massively increase distribution for the brokers? I started to ponder seriously about this until I read the line where he put himself in the same category as StubHubs and then promptly listed his website with a link. Broker business has increases massively because of TicketsNow and Stubhub. This is a funny way for mr. tickets of america to say thanks.