A small competitor in the ticket-sales market, dominated by Livenation and Ticketmaster, is emerging with TicketFly. A cheaper, easier to use, and faster ticketing system, TicketFly has a real chance of beating Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster’s business is a big one – but TicketFly may just have a chance of competing.
Venues defecting to TicketFly
TicketFly was founded in 2008 with $ 3 million in original funding. The first thing the business did was “poach” more than 50 venues from Ticketmaster/Livenation. Numerous venues ultimately control who gets to sell their tickets. TicketFly really got their sales started with these 50 venues. TicketFly claims to charge much less in both “printing fees” and “convenience fees.” Ticketmaster has become known for the high fees it piles on top of ticket cost. Despite legal questions of a monopoly, Ticketmaster has been adding venues to its concert-promotion packages.
What TicketFly does better
TicketFly has made many promises about prices and function. Ticketmaster tickets cost about 30 percent more than TicketFly. TicketFly will even give discounts to customers who spread the word about TicketFly through social marketing. For ticket sellers, TicketFly promises easy, fast updates of ticket details (rather than the 3 days it takes Ticketmaster). TicketFly promises, in short, that they will be faster and cheaper for everyone.
FreeFest pairs TicketFly and Virgin
TicketFly partnered with Virgin Mobile to distribute free FreeFest tickets. Anybody who attended a Virgin Mobile festival within the past was supposed to get an email for two free tickets. Only July 24 at 10 a.m., these tickets go on pre-sale for the second time. TicketFly won a big business move with the Virgin Mobile partnership. The decision of Virgin Mobile to use TicketFly was a big decision, since Ticketmaster / Livenation controls over half of the venues in the country.
