A report this week by KHOU-TV in Houston focused on the secondary ticket market and the Flash Seats paperless ticketing option provided by Cleveland, OH-based Veritix.
Flash Seats, a non-restrictive paperless ticketing solution, is utilized at Houston’s Toyota Center and is being touted by Veritix as an alternative to Ticketmaster’s restrictive paperless tickets which are not as easily transferable. The Veritix version can be transferred to anyone, but the transaction must occur through the company’s proprietary Web site where customers sign up for free accounts.
Approximately one-third of Toyota Center customers currently use Flash Seats for their tickets, and the arena, home to the Houston Rockets and several major concerts each year, is able to gather potential marketing information from those fans. Paperless tickets are tied to a credit card or other magnetic identification card that a fan swipes at the gate to gain entry to the event.
“So, they’re getting the data for each transaction,” Veritix President Jeff Kline told KHOU-TV. See the video below. “They’re also getting the fees that have escaped them for so long.”
In recent months, state and federal legislators have proposed bills to regulate paperless tickets, as their transferability has become a growing issue. In addition, fans using the Ticketmaster paperless system have occasionally experienced delays or malfunctions at the venue.
“If for some reason the swipe device at the door decides not to work, their whole system goes down. I wish them luck, the best of luck,” Houston ticket broker Malcolm Robinson told KHOU-TV.