in the words of one Nathan Hubbard

What Ticketing Will Look Like in 2019

Hrefna Helgadóttir

We’ve been thinking a lot about the year ahead in the ticketing business as we get ready for @Rival’s next steps. So apropos of nothing, here’s a quick thread on some things I think I know are coming in the year ahead in the ticketing business:
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

1) CONSOLIDATION. If you believe what you read, there are a *lot* of companies for sale, and some with funding pressure. In an industry with large incumbents, that’s usually a sign of imminent consolidation. We are going to see some major M&A transactions in the year ahead.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

2) REGULATION. On every continent, there is renewed energy around regulating the dark shadows of the secondary market. It’s an easy platform for a politician to use to gain support. We’ll see legislation, punitive regulatory responses, and tighter enforcement of existing laws.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

3) PRICING. The common theme of 2018 is that we have not found the top of high end consumers’ willingness to pay. It’s now commonplace to charge what tickets are worth (Springsteen, Swift), and it’s fueling growth. We’ll see a *lot* more tickets sold directly at market prices...
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

...and this has broad ramifications. It will continue the shift of the sales curve closer to the event date. It will mean more direct relationships between artists/teams and fans. It will put significant downward pressure on secondary marketplaces, who will be compelled to act.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

4) THE BATTLE FOR SUPPLY. The rise of sophisticated super aggregators (Eventellect, Dynasty, DTI) has secondary sites in a strategic quandary. They can’t allow suppliers to get too much power. So they have to go direct to teams/promoters...
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

...because it looks like supply is at such a premium that consumer experience alone is not enough to fuel transformative growth. As the sales curve shifts, teams and artists will want pricing advice and risk sharing. That’s what super aggregators do. There’s a race to align...
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

...with content to price and allocate tickets smartly, and share the inherent risk that comes with pricing a perishable good at market value. The collapse of the distinction between primary and 2ndary ticketing (that we started with TM+) will fully take shape this coming year.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

5) THE EUROPEANS ARE COMING. There are a host of ticketing companies in Europe eyeing a way into the North American market. It’s been that way for a decade. This is the year when one of them places a bet and fully enters. (Viagogo counts here.)
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

6) A PULLBACK IN CONSUMER SPENDING WILL REVEAL DEEP FLAWS IN SOME COMPANIES. It’s been ten years of consistent growth from market and consumer forces, independent of execution. There’s been some good execution, but also some luck. Sunlight is the best disinfectant; it’s coming.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

7) SOMEBODY IN SECONDARY TICKETING IS GOING TO FINALLY COMPETE ON PRICE. This won’t change the primary fees people hate. But take rates in secondary have been an absurd 20-25%, despite proliferating competition. In a play for growth, we will see someone go to war on price.
— Nathan Hubbard (@NathanCHubbard) December 18, 2018

our thoughts

We came across this thread from Nathan and found it really interesting. What stands out to us is the change in the pricing model, and how it shifts the sales curve for ticket sales.

It even further solidifies the need to have access to good analytics to the ticket sales, have the data in real time, and easy for anyone on the team to react to what is happening.