Verified Fan is a Marketing Tactic. Period.

Verified Fan is a Marketing Tactic. Period.

In August, Taylor Swift turned heads (again) when she announced a collaboration with Ticketmaster’s new Verified Fan program. The widely reported reasoning for supporting Verified Fan was to get tickets into the hands of fans, as opposed to scalpers and bots. Funny thing: in order to participate in #VerifiedFan, one needs: A verified email address; A cell phone number The ability to click on links On last check, scalpers can definitely cover these three requirements and any high school kid…

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Paperless Tickets Driving Wild Pricing Patterns

Paperless Tickets Driving Wild Pricing Patterns

Used to be that ticket prices would consistently fall in the days leading up to a concert event. As paper ticketing has become more prevalent, there are signs that ticket pricing patterns are more volatile as events grow near. I propose that those changes are a direct consequence of paperless ticketing, the device that was intended to curb ticket resale (what?).

Ticket Bots: Scapegoats for Uninspired Ticketing eCommerce

Ticket Bots: Scapegoats for Uninspired Ticketing eCommerce

Two weeks ago, a large population of disenfranchised Tragically Hip fans raged on the web about their inability to buy tickets for the bands final tour due to lighting fast sell outs. The blame for lack of tickets quickly pointed to ticket scalpers because as tickets were not available on the primary market, they were freely available for significantly higher prices on Stub Hub and Ticketnetwork affiliated websites, among many others. This is not the first time there has been…

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Louis C.K. vs. Scalpers – What Does it Mean?

Louis C.K. vs. Scalpers – What Does it Mean?

Business Week and a variety other rags were abuzz this week about Louis C.K.’s efforts to one up scalpers by selling tickets to his shows on his website for $45, period. TicketNews scooped some data on the subject from SeatGeek, which suggests that Louis’ efforts have so far been a success. Some have speculated that this is a blow to scalpers and Ticketmaster. No question, its was a big success for Louis, but I don’t think this is a sign of things to…

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Should Public Policy Favor Ticket Resellers?

Should Public Policy Favor Ticket Resellers?

Lawrence White, an economist at NYU wrote a commentary on Huffington Post in support of ticket transferability and the State of New York’s recent renewal of a law, “that allows venues to sell non-transferable paperless tickets only if buyers have the option of a transferable alternative, including the right to resell their ticket above or below face value as they see fit…” The gist of White’s position …if you buy the ticket, you should own it, and be able to…

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Red Sox Tickets: A Buyers Market

Red Sox Tickets: A Buyers Market

There have been a couple of articles in popular press recently (here, and here) talking about the relationship between the Red Sox decline in standings to resold ticket prices. Again, with the help of my friends at SeatGeek.com, I thought it would be interesting to look at how average resale ticket prices are doing as compared to last season. The above chart observes average resold ticket offer prices for the first 34 games of the 2011 and 2012 season. The…

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Are Miami Marlins Ticket Prices Falling?

Are Miami Marlins Ticket Prices Falling?

Thanks to a writer for the WSJ, I was clued in on false reports that secondary market ticket prices for the Miami Marlins were in a nose dive. With the help of my friends at SeatGeek.com, I set out to do some myth debunking (sorry Miami Today and Alex Groberman). Average ticket price for 2012 are up about $13 based on secondary market prices for the first 35 games of the season. According to SeatGeek.com, average ticket prices were $35.14…

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Dynamic Pricing: Two Minutes Too Late?

Dynamic Pricing: Two Minutes Too Late?

As reported by the New York Post, among other popular press, Ticketmaster has figured out that dynamic ticket pricing could help them capture additional profits, sell more tickets and head off the secondary market. But, this announcement, almost two years after I wrote a call for dynamic pricing, two minutes too late. First, we need to understand why Ticketmaster is pursuing dynamic ticket pricing now. As The New York Post pointed out, “According to concert tracker Pollstar, total ticket revenue…

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Red Sox Tickets at Bargain Prices?

Red Sox Tickets at Bargain Prices?

It seems the market has flipped at Fenway. Now is a good time to buy from the secondary market in Boston (yes, I really just did say that!). “For more than seven years, the Red Sox have claimed that for every home game, the number of tickets sold and distributed has eclipsed the seating capacity of America’s Most Beloved Ballpark. But recently, the task of filling those seats has grown more difficult. Television ratings are down, and marketing campaigns have…

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