Gone are the days of queuing up for the concert tickets (or any other event for that matter). Just like everything else on this planet, buying and selling tickets have also moved online! It has also given rise to online ticketing platforms like the Ticketmaster.
Being the world’s most popular ticket distribution company, Ticketmaster primarily makes money through commissions from ticket sales. It also offers various digital solutions, software, and other services to event organizers on a commission basis.
How Does Ticketmaster Make Money?
Ticketmaster was introduced as a website to buy tickets for popular events online. Today, it has become the world’s largest ticket marketplace. It offers numerous ticketing products that people demand across the globe.
So how does Ticketmaster make money? What is Ticketmaster business model? Continue reading to find out!
How Much Money Does Ticketmaster Make
Are you wondering how much money does Ticketmaster make? Ticketmaster is an online platform where users can buy tickets for upcoming events. It was the first platform to offer this service and today it is the most popular platform of its kind! People use their official website or smartphone app to buy tickets for music concerts, sports events, art & theater shows, and other types of events.
This platform has helped numerous people buy tickets for events organized miles away or in other cities. They serve millions of fans, art lovers, and other users who want to attend popular events. It has become a one-stop destination to buy entry passes conveniently!
Ticketmaster was founded in 1976. It was a Phoenix, Arizona-based startup in the beginning and today it is serving across 32 countries! This platform offers tickets for major events organized across the globe.
It has been such a hit that now whenever we think about booking tickets online, Ticketmaster is the first thing that pops up in our minds. So how much money does Ticketmaster make?
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Ticketmaster History
Peter Gadwa and Albert Leffler had established Ticketmaster in 1976 to sell hardware for ticketing systems and license computer programs. Both were college staffers operating from Phoenix, Arizona. They worked with Gordon Gunn III, who was a businessman and co-founder of this company.
Ticketmaster started their online ticketing journey by selling the tickets for Electric Light Orchestra concert, which was organized at the University of New Mexico. And they haven’t looked back since then!
The First Major Leap
Fred Rosen became the CEO in 1982 and he decided to take Ticketmaster to Los Angeles. The aim was to cover all the major events and the Live Entertainment Industry which was centered in LA. Now, Ticketmaster started collaborating with numerous popular venues, such as the famous LA Forum.
Since this tactic was working for the company, many investors helped Ticketmaster expand its Ticketmaster business model. Rosen has played a major role in enabling computerized ticketing. He helped founders expand their business across the USA, Europe, and Canada.
In 1991, Ticketmaster acquired their biggest rival Ticketron in order to capture the entire market. Since there was no major competitor, this firm started its travel agency and it also tried its hands at publishing!
Microsoft’s co-founder at that time – Paul Allen was attracted to Ticketmaster’s success and decided to acquire 80$ of the shares. Subsequently, he became the owner of the company.
Growth with InterActiveCorp
USA Networks Inc., which later became InterActiveCorp (IAC) acquired a majority stake in 1998. This change in proprietorship also came with the Ticketmaster’s merger with CitySearch. Thus, the company became Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch.
Since the internet age had begun, new competitors were popping up every other day. In order to be a dominant player in the industry, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch acquired TicketWeb Inc. It was an online ticket selling platform. IAC had sold some Ticketmaster stocks in the past, which it reacquired in 2003 to become the major shareholder.
Sean Moriarty was the Ticketmaster’s president in 2006. He recommended that states should prevent unauthorized ticket resale to prevent the use of counterfeit tickets. The company continued to acquire new firms, such as Paciolan Inc., Getmein.com, TicketsNow, Front Line Management, and other firms to dominate the ticketing industry.
Merger with Live Nation
Live Nation Entertainment is currently the parent company of Ticketmaster, which merged in the latter in 2009. Live Nation was an event promoter and it became Live Nation Entertainment after this merger.
The U.S. Justice Department cleared the merger in 2010 but only on a condition that the firm would license its software to AEG (Anschutz Entertainment Group). This merger also prevented the new firm from retailing against venues that collaborated with competitor firms.
Ticketmaster went on to acquire several companies in the entertainment industry. Today, it has the potential to offer tickets for all kinds of events ranging from concerts to stand-up comedy shows!
People often wonder how this ticket-providing company makes a profit to be such a huge player in the entertainment industry. The next section of this post describes Ticketmaster business model.
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How Does Ticketmaster Serve it’s Users?
All the tickets featured on Ticketmaster belong to event organizers, such as sports teams, artists, and venues organizing the event. This company collaborates with event organizers to promote their events and sell their tickets through a seamless digital experience.
Ticketmaster doesn’t decide how many tickets will be available for the general public, the ticket price, or even the timing.
Event organizers can also host ticket presale events through the official website of the company to promote the event.
This company provides comprehensive support to promote events digitally. It entertains over 1 billion visitors annually. Thus, it has got a huge user base to draw the audience for the proposed event!
There are four types of tickets provided by Ticketmaster, which include Standard, Resale, Platinum, and VIP tickets. Standard tickets are the most affordable ones and VIP tickets come with additional benefits.
Users can pick their favorite event and the type of ticket they want for the event. This company now also offers a virtual view of the location of the seat and the view the attendee will get from his/her seat. Thus, buyers can pick the right seat without being physically present at the venue!
How Does Ticketmaster Make Money?
Ticketmaster has emerged as the most profitable ticket distribution company. It entertains more than 1 billion digital visitors annually and offers over 500 million tickets through the website and official app!
Ticketmaster covers numerous events in various industries. However, it does not generate profit the way many people believe! This firm can entertain millions of users for their demands and that’s a major reason behind its success.
Ticketmaster takes a chunk of the ticket price, which becomes its primary source of revenue. The process might sound simple, but this company has somewhat complex operations. Various factors decide the fee percentage, such as the price of the venue, its percentage, popularity, etc.
This company also provides venues for major events and it has pretty competitive rates. Therefore, Ticketmaster’s services are beneficial for both fans and venues.
It has served numerous event organizers to find the right audience for their events. Organizers use digital platform offered by this company to list their events, find the audience, and sell their events.
Ticketmaster keeps a fair share of the ticket price and therefore it draws many organizers from various cities across the globe.
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Ticketmaster Products and Revenue Sources
Being the leading ticket distribution company, Ticketmaster has expanded its technical capabilities on many fronts. It has acquired many firms in its quest to offer a full 360-degree event marketing solution. Ticketmaster’s major products and services include the following:
PoS software
Selling tickets is not as easy as many people presume. When thousands of people attend an event, it requires comprehensive ticket management solutions to ensure every attendee is comfortable.
Ticketmaster is offering their top-grade PoS software to make ticket selling a simple task for venues. It has been offering such products since the 70s and modern tools have a user-friendly interface and impressive capabilities.
Even though it is not an IT firm, Ticketmaster makes huge profits by selling its PoS tool. This product is used across numerous venues and their purchases have significantly improved Ticketmaster’s revenue!
Secure Entry
Many people try to attend popular events with counterfeit tickets. It gets pretty challenging for event organizers to differentiate them from people who have legitimately bought their tickets. Ticketmaster provides tickets via its mobile app and also through the official website.
Organizers can check messages and online tickets allotted to individuals. It prevents the risk of letting unauthorized visitors in! Ticketmaster has also helped artists across the globe entertain their fans online. It has organized numerous online events to entertain millions of people online. They all got affordable tickets to attend the event safely from home.
Live Analytics
Ticketmaster has the potential to help businesses increase their sales and gain more profit from events. Its Live Analytics service offers a comprehensive customer database to help businesses and marketers get an insight into what clients demand.
Businesses can use this service to follow a data-driven approach to draw more clients. LiveAnalytics uses the global data warehouse to produce reliable analytics products. Many Ticketmaster clients use perfectly curated data to recognize customers’ needs before they engage and try to sell their products.
Nexus Partners
This company features many service providers as its Nexus Partners. Users can use this platform to access CRM, Data warehouses, Donations, Mobile Solutions, Entry Solutions, Marketing, Pricing and Analytics, Point of Sale solutions, and other service providers.
Ticketmaster redirects customers to its partners and gets a fair share for referring these clients. Even though no data is available regarding the company’s income through its nexus partners, it should add a considerable amount of money to Ticketmaster’s revenue.
Blue Digital
Ticketmaster has recently launched Blue, a digital marketing service. It offers event marketing solutions to event staffing agency and venues trying to draw more people to their events.
Ticketmaster is a seasoned player in the event industry today, and it now promises the success of the event through its marketing firm.
It helps clients in reaching and engaging with a much wider audience than they could capture on their own. Clients get a complete set of tools to meet their marketing goals. Ticketmaster already has a data warehouse and analytics service, which clients can use for data-driven marketing decisions.
Thus, the chances of success are quite high with Blue Digital.
IOMedia
Ticketmaster has collaborated with IOMedia to help its clients assess their seats in the venue. They are using highly sophisticated technologies to help event organizers, venues, and fans meet their ultimate goals.
IOMedia brings on Virtual Venue, a cutting-edge modern-day ticketing solution. Now, fans can use their smartphone or PC to check their seat’s location online and assess sightlines. Users can pick and compare various seats to ensure they will have the best view of the live event.
This new feature is helping Ticketmaster draw more customers for mega-events. Customers feel satisfied that they have got the best seats to enjoy the live event. They are happy to pay a premium for this feature because it eliminates the risk of picking the wrong seats!
Conclusion
In this article, we saw the Ticketmaster business model and revenue sources of the biggest ticketing platform i.e. Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster continues to provide cutting-edge solutions to entertain more users and clients. All the listed products and services have significantly improved the annual revenue of this company.
