SeatGeek will take over as the official ticketing partner of the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, the company announced Monday. The deal will begin with this year’s Fiesta Bowl, which is one of the College Football Playoff semifinal contests on the road to the NCAA championship. The deal is the third with a bowl game for SeatGeek and a second among the so-called “New Year’s Six” games that rotate as semifinal contests every three years – the Cotton Bowl in Texas being the other.
The Fiesta Bowl is scheduled or December 31, 2022, then December 30 in both 2023 and 2024 and December 27 in 2025 when it is once again a CFP semifinal. The length of the deal between the bowl and ticketing provider has not been specified beyond “multi-year.” The 2022 edition – the 51st since the bowl was launched in 1971 – saw Oklahoma State rally past Notre Dame for a 37-35 victory in front of 49,550 fans at State Farm Stadium, where the game has been held since 2007.
“The Fiesta Bowl is known as a ‘Bowl of Firsts’ and for breaking new ground in all that we do. Moving forward with SeatGeek is yet another marker for us, as two innovative organizations come together with our fans reaping the benefits,” said Eddie Eixenberger, Fiesta Bowl Vice President of Ticketing & Merchandising. “SeatGeek is enabling the future of ticketing technology and they’ve proven that with their success interacting with the next generation of fans. This is exciting to work together to reinvent how we reach and serve Fiesta Bowl fans.”
SeatGeek already tickets Arizona Cardinals home games at State Farm Stadium, as well as the Arizona Bowl in Tucson. It has aggressively expanded as a primary ticketing company in recent years, adding partnerships with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans, Broadway’s Jujamcyn Theaters and numerous MLS and EPL soccer franchises. The company touts its digital-first nature as key to its value for partners, including the organizers of the Fiesta Bowl, which was previously a Paciolan client.
“To connect with a new generation of fans, you need to create an experience that keeps fans engaged throughout the event process,” said Jeff Ianello, EVP of Client Partnerships at SeatGeek. “Our success is buoyed by the technology we create which makes a ticket mean so much more than just a ticket. It’s a big reason why premier events like Fiesta Bowl and hundreds of other clients love working with us. To us, it’s about building a strong partnership, not a transaction.”
