Ticketmaster has been the dominant player in the ticket sales industry for decades. Founded in 1976, the company has grown into a global ticketing powerhouse, providing ticket sales and distribution services for many of the world’s top venues, sports teams, and live entertainment events. However, in recent years a new player by the name of TicketSmarter has emerged as a potential challenger to Ticketmaster’s dominance.
TicketSmarter was founded in 2011 with the goal of providing a transparent, easy-to-use ticket marketplace for fans. The company has seen rapid growth, raising over $100 million in funding. TicketSmarter touts its “all-in ticket pricing” as a key differentiator from Ticketmaster, showing the final price including all fees upfront rather than tacking them on at the end. This pricing model provides fans with a simplified buying experience.
So is TicketSmarter poised to disrupt the ticketing industry and dethrone Ticketmaster? Or will Ticketmaster’s scale and deep integration with venues be too much for TicketSmarter to overcome? Let’s take a closer look at how the two companies compare.
Market Share
Ticketmaster continues to dominate the primary ticket sales market, with an estimated 80-90% market share in North America. The company has exclusive deals in place with many major venues, theaters, leagues, and promoters to be their official ticket sales provider.
TicketSmarter has made inroads selling tickets on the secondary market, but still has a small fraction of Ticketmaster’s market share. Estimates peg TicketSmarter’s share of the secondary ticket sales market at 2-3%.
While TicketSmarter is growing quickly, Ticketmaster’s massive size advantage remains. It would likely take many years of sustained high growth for TicketSmarter to make a real dent in Ticketmaster’s position.
Venue and Team Relationships
Ticketmaster’s greatest asset is its exclusive partnerships with venues, sports franchises, and promoters. The company has been securing long-term deals with major partners for decades, making it the go-to platform for initial ticket sales.
Some key exclusive deals include:
– NFL – Official ticketer for 28 of the 32 NFL teams
– NBA – Official ticketing partner for 29 of the 30 NBA teams
– NHL – Processes over 60% of all NHL ticket sales
– Live Nation – Exclusive deal as Live Nation’s primary ticketing provider
TicketSmarter does not have the venue relationships to compete for initial, primary ticket sales. Instead, it obtains inventory on the secondary market to resell. While Ticketmaster also resells tickets via its Ticketmaster Resale site, its venue deals give it exclusive access to the most in-demand primary inventory.
Industry Relationships and Influence
Beyond venues and teams, Ticketmaster benefits greatly from its cozy relationships with industry influencers. The company has close ties to live entertainment companies like Live Nation and AEG, giving it influence over artists’ tours and shows.
Additionally, Ticketmaster has bought up companies across the spectrum like Universe, Front Gate Tickets, and Paylogic to expand its reach. The 2010 merger with Live Nation in particular made Ticketmaster a vertically integrated giant with control over nearly every facet of the live events business.
TicketSmarter, on the other hand, is newcomer still building relationships and credibility within the industry. It does not have the leverage over venues, promoters, or artists that Ticketmaster does. While TicketSmarter is working hard to create partnerships, it faces a far steeper relationship-building curve.
Pricing and Fees
One of TicketSmarter’s biggest criticisms of Ticketmaster is around its pricing model and fees. Ticketmaster has faced growing backlash in recent years over its convoluted fees that can tack on as much as 25-30% to an order. Fees frequently run higher than the base ticket price itself.
TicketSmarter promotes its all-in ticket pricing as the antidote to Ticketmaster’s fees. The final price you see on TicketSmarter is the price you pay, with no hidden charges added after. This pricing transparency resonates with many fans and could be a competitive advantage.
However, Ticketmaster’s strong venue partnerships and massive inventory mean it can still often undercut TicketSmarter on major shows priced dynamically. And Ticketmaster allows season ticket holders to resell their seats directly, meaning TicketSmarter can’t always match some venue direct prices.
Brand Recognition and Loyalty
In terms of brand awareness and loyalty, Ticketmaster is far ahead. It benefits greatly from having been the primary ticketing site for so many teams, venues, and events for decades. Fans are used to buying their tickets through Ticketmaster.
According to a 2021 survey by Performance Research, Ticketmaster ranked highest in brand recognition and preference in the ticketing industry:
Ticketing Company | Brand Recognition | Brand Preference |
---|---|---|
Ticketmaster | 75% | 38% |
StubHub | 73% | 18% |
SeatGeek | 46% | 10% |
VividSeats | 45% | 7% |
TicketSmarter | 22% | 3% |
TicketSmarter has a lot of brand-building to do before it reaches Ticketmaster’s level of familiarity and preference among fans. Ticketmaster’s first-mover advantage gives it tremendous inertia.
Mobile Capabilities
One area where TicketSmarter matches up well with Ticketmaster is in mobile experience. With ticket sales and management rapidly going mobile, seamless mobile functionality is a must.
TicketSmarter has invested heavily in mobile ticket delivery and management features. Fans can store tickets directly in Apple Wallet or Google Pay, eliminating the need for paper tickets or clunky PDFs. Mobile entry via barcode scan reduces friction at venue doors as well.
Ticketmaster has also prioritized mobile ticketing, given the direction of the industry. But some fans still report challenges with Ticketmaster’s mobile tickets, necessitating printing a paper backup. For pure mobile ease of use, TicketSmarter may have an edge.
Data and Analytics
Ticketmaster benefits greatly from the tremendous amount of sales data it is constantly accumulating. With billions in annual ticket sales, Ticketmaster can leverage its wealth of purchase data for insights, trends, and predictive analytics.
The company uses this data advantage for everything from dynamically pricing tickets to providing venue clients with detailed sales reports and fan demographics. It also helps Ticketmaster efficiently manage inventory and tailor promotions.
TicketSmarter simply doesn’t have the same scale of sales data to work with. Though it is aggregating more data as it grows, it cannot match Ticketmaster’s insights. Data depth remains a key competitive edge for Ticketmaster.
Investments in Technology
Both Ticketmaster and TicketSmarter emphasize technology investments as a key part of their strategy. Providing the best fan experience requires continually upgrading to the latest ticketing platforms and innovations.
Some recent tech moves by Ticketmaster include:
– Rolling out Smart Queue technology for smoother virtual queueing
– Using artificial intelligence to optimize ticket pricing and recommendations
– Acquiring Blockchain startup Upgraded for blockchain-backed “smart tickets”
For TicketSmarter, tech investments focus on areas like:
– Improving security via multi-factor authentication and biometrics
– Leveraging machine learning to tailor promotions and offers
– Building a centralized dashboard for ticket management
Tech will only grow more integral to ticketing. Both companies recognize the need to continually modernize their platforms through major tech investments.
Global Reach and Expansion
While TicketSmarter is focused primarily on growth within the large U.S. ticketing market, Ticketmaster has a substantial head start globally. Ticketmaster already does business in over 30 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
Key international markets for Ticketmaster include Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Spain, and South Korea. The company continues aggressively expanding with acquisitions of international ticketing companies.
TicketSmarter caters mainly to U.S. ticket buyers as of now. Expanding globally would be a massive and costly undertaking requiring huge investments in local venues, teams, and operations. Ticketmaster’s worldwide footprint gives it a sizable advantage.
Financial Health
In terms of financial standing, Ticketmaster has much greater resources given the huge size and reach of its parent company Live Nation. Live Nation reported $6 billion in revenue in 2019 across 100 million ticket sales. The core Ticketmaster business generates billions in ticketing revenue annually.
TicketSmarter is still a much smaller startup, albeit one with impressive growth. The company has raised over $100 million in funding but produces a fraction of Ticketmaster’s ticketing volume. Ticketmaster’s scale provides substantially greater financial muscle.
That said, TicketSmarter is well-funded by private equity investors for continued expansion. It has the runway and backing to take on Ticketmaster, even if at a financial size disadvantage.
Head-to-Head Financial Comparison
Ticketmaster | TicketSmarter | |
---|---|---|
Annual Revenue | $Billions | ~$50 Million |
Employees | ~3,000 | ~150 |
Funding | Part of publicly traded Live Nation | $100+ Million |
Customer Service and Support
Another area where TicketSmarter aims to differentiate from Ticketmaster is customer service. Fans often complain about poor support from Ticketmaster, including long wait times and unsatisfactory resolution.
By contrast, TicketSmarter prides itself on fast, convenient customer support. The company offers customer service by phone, email, live chat, Twitter, and Facebook Messenger. TicketSmarter promises response times under 5 minutes for most inquiries.
Ticketmaster has bulked up support staffing in response to criticism, and also offers phone, email, and chat support. But its massive ticket volumes make delivering consistently speedy service challenging. Here, TicketSmarter likely has an advantage with its smaller customer base.
Conclusion
While TicketSmarter shows strong growth momentum, Ticketmaster maintains a dominant position in the ticket sales market. Its unmatched venue/team relationships, broader data and tech capabilities, superior financial resources, and global reach give it key advantages difficult for any competitor to overcome.
TicketSmarter’s all-in ticket pricing, smooth mobile experience, and customer service still give it an opportunity to disrupt. But overtaking Ticketmaster outright remains an extremely tall task. Ticketmaster’s huge first-mover lead and integration across live events make it the Salesforce or Amazon of ticketing – nearly impossible to unseat.
For TicketSmarter to represent a true threat, it would need to make serious inroads establishing long-term venue partnerships and continue outpacing Ticketmaster in innovation. Even then, fans’ familiarity and existing Ticketmaster integrations provide a strong edge.
Barring a major merger, acquisition, or Ticketmaster stumble, Ticketmaster remains the dominant ticketing leader for the foreseeable future. While TicketSmarter and other rivals will take some market share, Ticketmaster’s sheer scale and breadth appear unassailable. The ticketing giant is poised to maintain its industry supremacy.