In November 2021, Ticketmaster and the National Football League (NFL) announced a landmark deal that makes Ticketmaster the exclusive provider of ticketing services for the NFL through 2026. This deal gives Ticketmaster exclusive rights to sell tickets on NFL.com and official team apps, providing Ticketmaster with access to one of the most valuable sports properties in the US.
The deal is notable for its scope and length, covering all preseason, regular season, and postseason NFL games. It also includes marquee events like the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, NFL Draft, and international games. The agreement runs for five seasons, replacing Ticketmaster’s previous four-year NFL deal signed in 2017.
The deal consolidates the NFL’s ticketing under one provider after years of fragmentation across multiple platforms. It aims to improve the ticket buying experience for fans through unified technology and expanded ticket inventory. However, the exclusive nature of the deal has also drawn scrutiny from regulators concerned about Ticketmaster’s growing market power in live events.
What are the key terms of the deal?
Some key components of the Ticketmaster-NFL deal include:
– Exclusive rights – Ticketmaster is now the only primary ticketing provider for all public ticket inventory across NFL digital properties, including NFL.com, the NFL app, and official team apps.
– Five year term – The deal locks in Ticketmaster as the NFL’s exclusive ticketing partner through the 2026 season.
– All NFL events – The deal covers tickets for every NFL game, including preseason, regular season, playoffs, Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, International Series games, and the NFL Draft.
– Access to NFL ticketing data – Ticketmaster will gain insights into NFL ticketing data to help enhance the ticket buying experience and provide analytics to teams.
– Expanded ticket inventory – There will be more NFL tickets available on Ticketmaster compared to previous years when inventory was split across multiple platforms.
– Official NFL ticket resale marketplace – Ticketmaster will power the NFL Ticket Exchange, the official ticket resale marketplace across the NFL.
– Flexible payment options – Variable and flexible payment options will be offered during initial ticket sales and resales.
– Upgrades to product/tech – Ticketmaster plans major upgrades to its product and technology for NFL fans and teams.
What does the deal mean for NFL teams and fans?
This consolidated deal aims to provide several benefits for NFL teams and fans:
– Easier ticket buying process – With just one provider and platform, purchasing NFL tickets should be simpler and unified for fans.
– More tickets available – Bringing all NFL ticket inventory together on Ticketmaster will increase the available supply versus when inventory was previously split.
– Flexible payment options – Ticketmaster plans to provide variable payment options for ticket purchases and resales to improve affordability.
– Enhancedmobile experience – The deal enables better NFL ticketing experiences on mobile apps and digital platforms.
– Data insights for teams – Teams will receive ticket sales data and analytics from Ticketmaster to assist ticket marketing efforts and optimize sales.
– Price controls – Longer term, the deal could potentially provide the league more control over ticket pricing and the resale market.
However, there are also downsides for fans:
– Higher fees – Ticketmaster service and processing fees are notoriously high, often 25%+ on top of ticket face values. Monopoly power could allow even higher fees.
– Fewer competitors – The exclusive deal blocks competitors like Eventbrite, AXS, and SeatGeek from NFL ticketing. Less competition could remove incentives to innovate and keep fees low.
– More dynamic pricing – Variable “surge” ticket pricing based on demand is more likely to expand under Ticketmaster.
– Resale price controls – The NFL may have less ability to regulate secondary resale ticket prices on Ticketmaster’s NFL Ticket Exchange.
Why did the NFL sign an exclusive deal with Ticketmaster?
There are several key reasons why the NFL likely opted for the exclusive Ticketmaster deal:
– Greater control over ticketing: Consolidating all ticketing with one provider, rather than the previous fragmented approach, allows the NFL greater oversight and control over the entire ticket sale and distribution process.
– Enhanced distribution capabilities: Ticketmaster has an enormous distribution reach through its ticket sales channels, ensuring NFL tickets are available to the widest audience possible.
– Advanced data and insights: Ticketmaster offers valuable ticket sales data and analytics to help the NFL and teams optimize ticket pricing, manage inventory, and boost sales.
– Increased revenue potential: An exclusive deal allows Ticketmaster to pay more for NFL rights given it controls 100% of inventory, likely increasing revenue for the NFL versus splitting revenues across multiple ticketing firms.
– Technology upgrades: Ticketmaster committed to making upgrades to modernize and improve the NFL’s digital ticketing technology and fan experience across platforms.
– Long-term partnership: The 5-year term creates a long-term exclusive relationship between the NFL and Ticketmaster versus shorter 1-2 year deals.
– Premium event rights: The deal consolidates premium NFL event ticketing like Super Bowl and NFL Draft under Ticketmaster, events that typically have the highest ticket demand.
How does this deal impact Ticketmaster?
For Ticketmaster, securing exclusive NFL ticketing bolsters its dominant position in live event ticketing in several key ways:
– Huge revenue driver – NFL ticket sales will provide hundreds of millions in added revenue each year for Ticketmaster.
– Locks out competitors – Direct NFL competitors like Eventbrite, SeatGeek, AXS can no longer directly sell NFL tickets, helping Ticketmaster maintain its market power.
– Data advantage – Exclusive NFL ticketing data will provide Ticketmaster with valuable insights to improve ticket pricing algorithms, purchase funnels, and other tech capabilities.
– Enhanced value proposition – The addition of premium NFL inventory makes Ticketmaster more appealing to other sports leagues, teams, and partners looking for a complete ticketing solution.
– Technology upgrades – Developing modernized ticketing tech and apps for the NFL has benefits across Ticketmaster’s entire business, not just for NFL tickets.
– Boosted brand profile – Being the exclusive provider of NFL tickets raises Ticketmaster’s visibility and brand reputation as a premier ticketing experience.
However, anti-competitive concerns over Ticketmaster’s overwhelming market dominance continue to grow. The deal also requires major financial commitments by Ticketmaster for rights fees and technology upgrades.
Is the exclusive deal under scrutiny by regulators?
The Ticketmaster-NFL deal has attracted scrutiny from some regulators regarding potential anti-competitive implications. Key areas of concern include:
– Monopoly power: Ticketmaster now has monopolistic control over NFL ticketing, with regulatory worries this could spread to other leagues. This reduces incentives to innovate and keep fees affordable.
– Locking out competitors: Rival ticketing companies are completely excluded from direct NFL ticketing sales, which they view as anti-competitive.
– Bundling of services: Ticketmaster also owns secondary resale site NFL Ticket Exchange, allowing it to leverage NFL primary and secondary ticketing together in a potentially anti-competitive manner.
– Data advantage: Ticketmaster will gain exclusive access to invaluable NFL ticketing data unavailable to competitors.
– Increased prices: Critics argue consumers will likely face higher fees, fewer discounts, and potentially inflated ticket prices due to lack of competition.
– Resale price controls: The NFL may lose oversight of secondary market ticket prices as Ticketmaster looks to allow more price flexibility to maximize resale revenue.
However, the deal does not necessarily violate antitrust laws since the NFL is allowed to choose one exclusive partner. The NFL and Ticketmaster argue the deal provides significant consumer and fan benefits that outweigh anti-competitive concerns. But legal challenges remain a possibility, especially if monopolistic harms become clear over the deal’s tenure.
How does this compare to deals in other major sports leagues?
Compared to ticketing deals in other major professional sports leagues, the Ticketmaster-NFL agreement is unique in terms of its exclusivity and breadth of inventory coverage:
– NFL: Exclusive deal with Ticketmaster covering all events and inventory.
– NBA: Ticketmaster is official provider but non-exclusive. Teams can use other platforms.
– NHL: Similar to NBA. Ticketmaster is a major provider but teams use multiple ticketing firms.
– MLB: More fragmented. MLB uses Ticketmaster along with several other ticketing companies.
– MLS: Has an exclusive deal with SeatGeek for its digital ticketing rights. Teams can also use Ticketmaster.
– EPL: No central ticketing deals. Individual clubs strike own ticketing deals, often with multiple providers.
The NFL deal dwarfs these other league deals in locking up all NFL ticketing inventory exclusively under Ticketmaster. However, the tradeoff is less choice for fans and reduced price competition versus an open ticketing model.
Could this deal expand to other live events beyond the NFL?
The NFL deal further strengthens Ticketmaster’s industry clout and provides a potential template to pursue expanded rights with other major live events:
– Potential for more exclusive deals: Buoyed by NFL success, Ticketmaster could leverage its scale, data, and tech advantages to strike more exclusive end-to-end ticketing deals with leagues, conferences, or venues.
– Strengthened bargaining position: Guaranteed NFL inventory makes Ticketmaster a more appealing ticketing partner for music festivals, concerts, and theatres looking for ensured distribution and sales.
– Tech and data synergies: Ticketing innovations built for the NFL can be leveraged across Ticketmaster’s entire portfolio of exclusive rights and clients.
– Upsell opportunities: The NFL deal allows Ticketmaster opportunities to cross-sell and engage NFL fans into its broader ticketing ecosystem for other live events.
However, potential antitrust actions by regulators could limit Ticketmaster’s ability to replicate the exclusive NFL model in other ticketing markets. Competitors may also make aggressive counter-offers to retain rights for major music, entertainment, and other live events.
Conclusion
The exclusive Ticketmaster-NFL ticketing deal brings major changes to NFL ticketing while significantly growing Ticketmaster’s dominant position in live events. The deal aims to provide a better ticket buying experience for NFL fans through unified ticketing technology and expanded ticket inventory access.
However, the exclusive nature of the deal reduces pricing competition and could allow Ticketmaster to impose higher fees. It also provides Ticketmaster unmatched NFL ticketing data and advantages over its blocked competitors. Increased regulatory scrutiny over monopolistic concerns appears likely, even if the deal does not clearly violate antitrust laws.
Ultimately, the success of the deal for NFL fans will depend on whether promised improvements in technology and convenience outweigh potential harms from limited choices, higher costs, and diminished oversight of ticket prices under a Ticketmaster monopoly. Its impact could expand far beyond the NFL if Ticketmaster leverages this template to pursue more exclusive ticketing deals across live entertainment and sports.