“CONTINUED STUNNING GROWTH CONFIRMS SEATWAVE’S NO. 1 POSITION”
LONDON, ENG (Seatwave) 05 May 2009 – Seatwave, Europe’s leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, today announced explosive growth for Q1, supported by ComScore’s latest report confirming that Seatwave is Europe’s largest ticket exchange by a factor of more than 2 to 1 versus its nearest competitor. March sales alone grew by 287% year on year, one of the many indicators of the company’s increasing success.
This strong growth was boosted, in part, by the phenomenal response to Michael Jackson’s This Is It O2 residency. The King of Pop’s comeback tour outsold Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Britney Spears, V Festival, AC/DC and Leonard Cohen combined! The most anticipated event of 2009, This Is It even outsold the other first quarter favourite, U2, by almost 2 to 1.
ComScore’s market statistics for the period confirm Seatwave’s position as Europe’s leading ticket exchange with March unique visitors of just over 1.9 million, well ahead of all secondary market players and also the leading live event promoter, Live Nation. Despite the launch of the Concert Promoters Association ticket exchange and the Michael Jackson promoter, AEG, touting another exchange, fans are increasingly choosing Seatwave as the No.1 marketplace to buy and sell tickets.
Underpinning this phenomenal achievement is Seatwave’s continued focus on providing a safe and secure marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets. A message which was promoted during a significant March advertising blitz on national radio and the London Underground. While overall sales in Q1 2009 grew by a sparkling 199%, Seatwave’s gross margin grew at an amazing 301% over the same period demonstrating the increasing benefits of market leadership in this sector.
This exceptional growth trend is mirrored across Europe with Seatwave reporting ticket sales in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain up a staggering 401% over the past year.
Commenting on the figures, Joe Cohen, Founder and CEO of Seatwave, said:
“Seatwave’s exponential growth shows that our focus on helping fans buy and sell tickets is the winning approach in this space. The recent Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen ticket scandals underscore the moral failings of the live event industry and reinforce our commitment to make sure fans are properly protected and get the best prices in the secondary market. Our Q1 results have shown that the trust of our customers is a key element in our market winning strategy”.
About Seatwave
Seatwave is Europe’s largest fan-to-fan ticket exchange, an online marketplace for buying and selling tickets for theatre, sports, music and other live events. The company was launched in February 2007 by Joe Cohen, ex Ticketmaster and ex match.com and early stage Venture Capital firm, Atlas Venture. Seatwave has more than 700,000 tickets on sale at any one time.
Seatwave guarantees that tickets come only from legitimate sources and will represent them accurately and honestly. Seatwave operates two types of customer protection. TicketintegrityTM guarantees that buyers will receive the tickets they ordered and in good time for the event. If not Seatwave refunds 100% of what was paid. All tickets bought on Seatwave are also covered by TicketcoverTM. This provides for a full refund if an event is cancelled and even covers buyers for a range of circumstances that may prevent them from attending their performance. The company is based in London. www.seatwave.com.
For more information please contact:
Claire Thom / Louise Rutter
Portland PR
T: 020 7842 0135
E: [email protected] / [email protected]
