by Scott Timpano
The Las Vegas ticket market formula for success is a simple one: obtain desirable tickets and then sell them at a higher price. Tix4Tonight.com did not get the memo. Instead they’re selling tickets at half the box office price and are growing exponentially. As recently as last March, their stock (TIXC.OB) was trading as low as $.21 a share. At the market’s close on November 8th, it was at $3.05. This October, they sold 56,000 tickets, a triple digit increase from last year.
Like the company name implies, they only offer tickets for events that day. Tix4tonight CEO Mitch Francis explains their recent success, “the increase in our ticket sales reflects the ever-growing number of shows sold at our ticket booths. Many of these new shows are some of the best shows in Las Vegas, which has contributed to the increase in ticket sales.”
This relatively simple strategy is paying enormous dividends for the ticket seller. While their strategy remains simple, the contractual agreement with the venues is a complicated one. Tix4Tonight tickets are not available online or via phone, instead all of their sales are generated through foot traffic at one of their 4 outlets. They also cannot post any information on their website until 10:30 am. When asked what their best selling show was, that too could not be disclosed due to the nature of their agreement. The complicated contract grew from a concept Francis is proud to still adhere to: “No show should have an empty seat.”
Tix4Tonight also remains dedicated to offering tickets to the biggest shows in Vegas. On a daily basis they offer tickets to major headliners, variety, magic, comedy, show girls, and much more. They recently made tickets available to “always sold out” Las Vegas shows at a smaller discount usually between 25%-50%. Tix4Tonight took full advantage of the buy-and-mark-up Las Vegas ticket market by doing just the opposite. In creating their own niche in the gray area between the primary and secondary ticket market, they’re now becoming rivals of long standing Las Vegas sellers.
Tix4tonight has not become complacent with their recent success either. Right now they’re working on creating new box offices in addition to their four existing ones: the Hawaiian Marketplace at the south end of the Strip, the Fashion Show Mall in front of Neiman Marcus, directly across the street from the new Wynn Resort at the middle of the Strip, North Strip, across from the Stardust Hotel, and a new downtown Las Vegas facility in the Four Queens Hotel, fronting onto the Fremont Street Experience. The location of ticket booths is a vital aspect of Tix4Tonight’s business strategy. This is where Francis’s 18 years of experience in commercial realty development becomes critical.
They’re also drawing the attention of some of the major industry leaders. Ticketliquidator.com is currently the 2nd most popular secondary market ticket website and they had the following to say about Tix4Tonight, “Tix4Tonight provides a useful service that really taps into the consumer’s desire for entertainment at a great price. We have the same basic philosophy at TicketLiquidator.com by offering premium tickets at the lowest prices online. Ticket shoppers are increasingly sophisticated in hunting down ticket bargains. This trend is helpful to anyone providing good value for money in the entertainment ticket market,” said Ticket Liquidator Executive Director Nick Eve. For more information about Tix4Tonight visit their website Tix4Tonight.com or any of their four walk-up ticket booths.