Peter Delloro
The NCAA recently announced they were partnering with RazorGator Experiences, an event experience company, to offer ticket, hospitality and hotel packages for the 2007 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta. The packages are fabulous (great seating and hot special events) but there’s a bonus.
If a fans’ team gets knocked out at the semifinal level, they can now negotiate with RazorGator to resell the unused tickets for the championship game. This partnership is somewhat unique for a conservative organization like the NCAA. “This is the first time the NCAA has sanctioned the resale of tickets” RazorGator CEO David Lord explained ”They care about their fan base and want to provide a safe and honest program for them to resell tickets.”
A few years back a fan buying a previously sold ticket to any event (from a U2 concert to NASCAR races) took a chance that they might be dealing with a less than honest broker that might promise them tickets but literally take their money and run. What makes companies like RazorGator attractive to the buyer is that if they don’t get the tickets they’ve agreed to purchase, RazorGator promises they’ll substitute a comparable or better ticket for the same price or they’ll refund the fan’s money. Last year the company brokered over 6,000 tickets for clients at the Super Bowl with no negative transactions reported.
RazorGator seems to be on a roll these days. Another announcement was recently made by Rose Bowl officials concerning the selection of RazorGator Experiences as their Official FanTravel Partner for the second year in a row. Along with the usual hospitality packages, RazorGator will provide their ticket exchange program allowing Rose Bowl ticket holders who can’t attend the game to sell their tickets through a sanctioned agency. And, RazorGator continues to negotiate with the NCAA for rights to “The College World Series, The Frozen Four, and maybe more” according to Lord.
These actions by the NCAA and Rose Bowl officials further legitimize the role of businesses selling tickets on the secondary market. The reselling of tickets has become financially attractive and is spreading faster than wildfire. Last year companies like StubHub, eBay, Craigslist, and Ticket Liquidator accounted for between $4-10 billion in sales.
In all the rush, RazorGator has claimed a significant chunk of the market. “They present a high level of hospitality and technology,” explained Liz Bradley of Kel and Partners, a marketing agency used by RazorGator. Plus rival companies like Ticketmaster have limitations. “RazorGator is the only company that can bring many of these services on site” Lord commented.
