AEG spurns U.S. ticketing partner Ticketmaster for Live Nation ally CTS Eventim

In a move that could be considered a slight to one of its business partners, heavyweight promoter AEG recently announced it had chosen to partner with German ticketing giant CTS Eventim, instead of Ticketmaster, for the ticketing operations in several venues in Germany. Among the AEG venues that CTS will have under its ticketing platform include the the new state-of-the-art O2 World in Berlin.

While not necessarily a setback for Ticketmaster, news of the deal could put a crimp in the company's plans to expand its presence in international markets, as outlined a few weeks ago by President and CEO Sean Moriarty.

It also comes on the heels of the company wanting to lure in investors after being spun off as a publicly traded entity on Nasdaq under the symbol TKTM. Ticketmaster stock closed down about 31 cents today at $24.77. AEG is one of Ticketmaster's more prominent ticketing partners.

After the United Kingdom, Germany is Europe's second-most lucrative and hotly contested market, so the decision by AEG to go with CTS, Europe's largest primary ticket company, strengthens the hold CTS has on that market. CTS, which has a sophisticated mobile ticketing operation among other innovations, expects AEG's events in Germany will generate more than 1 million additional ticket sales annually.

"A good portion of these tickets will come from events in O2 World, one of the world's most advanced multi functional arenas with a capacity of up to 17,000 that AEG has been building in Berlin on the former Ostbahnhof area," CTS said in a statement. O2 World is scheduled to open in mid-September with a concert by Metallica.

Late last year, Ticketmater rival Live Nation signed a deal with CTS for the company to provide the platform and back office for Live Nation's new ticketing operation that it will launch in 2009.

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster did not respond to a request for comment.