Like some industries, ticketing has been stuck in its ways using the same technique for many years now. The industry standard and old technique has been a closed system with various restrictions surrounding where and when fans can buy and transfer tickets. However, SeatGeek, which, a ticketing aggregation site that searches dozens of ticketing sites and presents all the results all in one place, is literally hoping to change the industry.
They have recently announced a new primary ticketing platform called SeatGeek Open which allows for greater accessibility and reduces the possibility of fraud. “If you poll the average American, they don’t like the current ticketing process,” said SeatGeek co-founder, Russ D’Souza.
Some current ticketing sites are based on models from the 1980s and SeatGeek took advantage of this, realizing that it was time to adapt.
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The goal of the new platform is to create openness which will make the whole ticketing experience much more enjoyable for fans. SeatGeek Open allows for tickets to be sold directly within third party apps and websites. What this means is that fans will no longer have to use separate searching sites for their tickets. Instead, they will find tickets where they are spending most of their online time such as places like Facebook Messenger or Amazon.
SeatGeek Open is also designed to prevent fraud. “We want to allow barcode verification to any site that is part of the verification network,” said D’Souza
This resale verification solution allows for tickets to be widely available but still ensure that a ticket is valid before it’s even posted online. The old ticketing system worked in a way that you had a fifteen digit integer on your ticket. When people sell tickets on a site they aren’t necessarily selling verified tickets because the user you’re selling to gets the same fifteen digit integer on their ticket. Therefore, as a seller, you could still choose to enter the event even after pocketing the money. This is exactly what the open and transparent marketplace is aiming to prevent.
Another thing that D’Souza and the SeatGeek team realized is that an increasing amount of people are spending their time on mobile apps. We now live in a mobile world where the vast majority of people own a smartphone and are spending more time and money on mobile platforms than ever before.
Major League Soccer, who has a predominantly young fan base according to D’Souza, just recently partnered with SeatGeek who is now their official ticketing partner. SeatGeek has also recently partnered with Sporting Kansas City which is the first team for which they will serve as the primary ticket distributor.
In regards to the new MLS partnership, D’Souza said, “It’s a strong partnership and we’re ready to start proving ourselves to their clubs and the rest of the industry.”
Don’t be surprised to see many more partnerships announced in the coming months for SeatGeek as they’re ready to prove the value of open ticketing. “SeatGeek Open is a bold new attempt at how teams should distribute their tickets,” said D’Souza.
Simply put, they are attempting to change the ticketing purchasing game by build the best experience for the fan to buy and sell tickets.