TicketNetwork this week announced the first wave of brokers who would be participating in the company’s new Last-Minute Ticket Broker (LMTB) program, an initiative that uses actual “brick-and-mortar locations,” in addition to online ticket sales, to increase consumer ease and ticket sales volume.
The goal in setting up the LMTB is to allow for greater customer flexibility, according to TicketNetwork, which is partnering with local ticket brokers who maintain locations near some of the most popular venues nationwide. Shane Dixon, who is spearheading the program for the company, said LMTB will allow ticket purchasers to buy tickets to events online, even as late as the day of the event, and still have the ability to pick-up the tickets at one of the LMTB locations near the event venue.
“Consumers can purchase tickets online from Broker A, at which point they will be instructed to pick up their tickets from Broker B (the LMTB location, which is a physical, brick-and-mortar location). Additionally, consumers have the ability to walk into the LMTB’s location and pick up tickets for that night’s event, if they are available,” explained Dixon in an e-mail to TicketNews.
The process is set-up with the goal of aiding all parties within the transaction: the buyer will have a location close to the venue to obtain the ticket at the last minute; the seller will have stronger opportunities to sell last-minute tickets; and the brick-and-mortar store will benefit from increased foot traffic as well as a portion of the ticket sale.
In terms of how TicketNetwork has chosen brokers to partner with, Dixon said that the criteria were varied.
“Brokers are chosen based on a number of factors: they need to be on TicketNetwork’s POS; they need to be on IP Charge; they need to be able to facilitate Mercury transactions; they must have a location close to the venue; and, they must have a high broker rating on the TicketNetwork system,” he stated. Brokers who want to become involved in LMTB should contact Dixon at TicketNetwork to begin the application process.
Twelve centers have been announced so far, including stores in Las Vegas, Chicago, Seattle, New York City, and Orlando. The 12 are: Alliance Tickets — Englewood, CO; Alliance Tickets — Las Vegas, NV; Epic Seats — Seattle, WA; Gameday Tickets — Dallas, TX; Inseats.com — New York, NY; Jiffy Tickets — San Francisco, CA; Pioneer Tickets — Atlanta, GA; Select-A-Ticket — Riverdale, NJ; Ticket Connection — Chicago, IL; Ticket King — Minneapolis, MN; TicketGenie.com — Orlando, FL; and YourTicketsFast.com — Yukon, OK.
TicketNetwork expects to continue rolling out new locations throughout the upcoming months, with the ultimate goal of obtaining centers close to the top 100 venues nationwide. According to Dixon, upcoming LMTB’s are planned in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, and Cincinnati before the end of the year.
TicketNetwork is the parent company of TicketNews.
