TicketMaster Buys TicketsNow

January 15, 2008 By Geoff Duncan

TicketMaster has announced it is buying popular online ticket reseller TicketsNow, promising to bring validation to the ticket resale market.

Major ticket broker TicketMaster has announced a definitive agreement to acquire popular online ticket reseller TicketsNow for an undisclosed amount. TicketMaster, a subsidiary of of Barry Diller’s IAC media empire—which also runs search engine Ask.com and online dating service Match.com—will use the acquisition to give it a leg-up in the increasingly competitive ticket resale market. TicketMaster also plans to leverage its relationships with pro sports leagues to bring ticket validation and electronic ticket delivery to the ticket resale market.

“Fans have embraced ticket resale, and the combination of TicketMaster and TicketsNow will allow us to provide a safer, more reliable and efficient resale experience,” said TicketMaster president and CEO Sean Moriarty, in a statement. “We are confident that combining TicketsNow’s strong resale network with our audience and distribution capabilities will enable us to set a new standard in the resale category.”

The companies expect the acquisition to close by the end of the first quarter of 2008. The ticket resale market has heated up in recent years, with sales of tickets to big-time sporting events often selling for three to ten times their face value from resellers…and tickets to tween sensation Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus often being offered for over $1,000. TicketMaster has come under fire for its online ticket sales system which, many consumers have argued, is gamed by ticket brokers who use software tools to “cut in line” in front of real fans and buy up large blocks of seats, which they later resell for a profit. TicketMaster itself has fueled the controversy with its TicketsExchange program, which attempts to tap into the ticket resale market by letting fans sell their tickets for a fee, is exploited by ticket scalpers.

Showing 7 comments

jimmywatler at 6:29am 17th April 2010 Ticket4Football.com is the most specialized and fully dedicated football ticket website offering the best place to buy football tickets for all the popular football matches around. You can buy your favourite Champions League Final football match/team tickets online through our secure and guaranteed online booking system. You can also sell Champions League Final tickets here!. Ticket4Football offers 100% safe and secure online booking system for Champions League Final tickets.

http://www.ticket4football.com/champions-league...
http://www.VIPcontacts.com at 8:03am 7th January 2009 The secondary ticket industry has been around for many, many years and being in the business for over 25 years as a ticket concierge and backstage pass conecierge, the realse of tickets industry is the heart of what the term broker represents - Our job in this industry is to bring the buyer to the seller. This merger will not affect legitimate comapnies like VIPcontacts.com to continue to grow, since VIPcontacts.com business has always been referral based and customer oriented, things the larger companies, will never be able to do, since larger companies main goal is there bottom line, compared to VIPcontacts.com which main goal is 100% customer satisfaction!!
Tailgate Tickets at 5:42pm 13th May 2008 Ticketmaster and Ticketsnow
I own the company http://www.tailgatetickets.com in Milford CT
and i seen first hand what a load of BULL that Ticketmaster is telling the public.
Ticketmaster lied to the public in the story on E60 when they said show us the broker that bought the tickets for $50ea and posted them on Ticketsnow for $97ea and we will kick them off Ticketsnow.
85% of the Brokers on Ticketsnow do this everyday.

Not only do the Brokers do this Ticketmaster does it without ever releasing tickets
Look at the Van Halen show for Mohegan Suns
they try and make it look like fans are trading tickets when in fact Ticketmaster is post 50% of the tickets that never got released and they are charging $300 and up.

Read
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01212008/news/national...

Robert Finnimore
Tailgate Tickets
491 New Haven Ave
Milford CT 06460
(203) 877-9400
Most honest broker you will ever meet call me or email me @ bob@tailgatetickets.com
Tailgate Tickets at 5:40pm 13th May 2008 Read this story from Bob @ TailgateTickets.com
Davey Broker at 9:31am 23rd January 2008 The purchase by TicketMaster is so that they can have a place to sell tickets that they get from the top of each sale. People that know about TicketMaster aren't fooled by the fact that TM will take every advantage they can of scamming the general public of the good seats. I think that it is very wrong for a ticket distributer to be able to do what TM is doing. I mean they are buying a broker site right in front of us so that they can unethically broker tickets. Since they are in charge of inventory & ticket distribution for just about every venue in the country they will be able to steal tickets and sell them on their new broker site. When will the corruption end??????????????
TicketGuy at 6:27pm 16th January 2008 TicketMaster is desperately trying to hold onto their market as the rug is being pulled out from underneath them. But this is a worry because what if TicketMaster begins to sell its inventory on Ticketsnow for double to triple face value without giving the public a fair chance at face value, or telling the public they are doing this? This leaves the end consumer in a pretty shi**y situation. Most people don't know that there are other primary sites out there and other options besides Ticketsnow. Sites like http://www.tickex.com are an easy place for the consumer to go to see these other sites and find out what fair market price is. Be smart.
Alex at 10:00am 16th January 2008 Response to Ticketmaster / Ticketsnow merger

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 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.