SeatGeek announced that it has reached a deal with Paciolan, making the company the secondary ticket marketplace partner of choice for the ticketing provider that powers a huge percentage of NCAA athletics in North America. The deal means that Paciolan’s existing secondary marketplace partner – StubHub – will be phased out over coming months, with SeatGeek expected to be fully integrated by the summer of 2023.
According to the deal announcement, SeatGeek resale services will be directly integrated with Paciolan’s primary ticketing system with an expected start date in July 2023. The agreement extends SeatGeek’s reach to include Paciolan collegiate and live events clients, who will use SeatGeek’s API-driven technology to deliver tickets to consumers shopping for tickets across the more than 150 intercollegiate athletics departments using Paciolan as their primary ticketing provider, which includes 20 of the top 25 brands in the space.
“Paciolan is thrilled to join forces with SeatGeek to offer teams and venues an integrated secondary ticketing solution that offers incredible customer service, marketing reach, rich data, and best-in-class mobile technology,” said Kim Damron, president of Paciolan and president of digital & technology for parent company LEARFIELD. “We believe combining our deep expertise in primary ticketing along with SeatGeek’s unmatched secondary market capabilities will drive innovative experiences for our clients and their fans.”
As with any deal of this nature, the core of the partnership will be the ability for the resale partner to share consumer data with the primary box office even when tickets are resold. This will allow the athletic departments to have a better idea of who is actually attending their games, including the ability to market to those potential clients and use their data to power other marketing partnerships with third parties. The deal will see tickets serviced using SeatGeek’s mobile-only ticketing systems, integrating Paciolan’s digital ticketing systems.
“Paciolan’s footprint and reputation in college sports and live entertainment is a perfect fit for us. College sports have quickly become the fastest growing and most dynamic sector in live entertainment, ready for innovation,” said Russ D’Souza, co-founder of SeatGeek. “Working in lockstep with Paciolan, we’ll seek to take advantage of that momentum and introduce new secondary ticketing software and analytics that will continue to improve the event day experience. We’ll also engage with the largest – and most enthusiastic – fanbase in sports and entertainment, broadening SeatGeek’s presence, from college students to proud alumni.”
News of the Paciolan deal comes fresh on the heels of SeatGeek announcing the renewal of its partnership with the New Orleans Pelicans NBA franchise and its home stadium. The company, which began as a resale marketplace search engine, has made substantial headway into competing for primary marketplace deals as well, now serving as the ticketing partner of NBA, NFL, NHL, and soccer partners across North America and overseas. Paciolan, a subsidiary of Learfield, powers the primary ticketing services of more than 160 athletics programs, as well as more than 100 sports arenas, 75 performing arts venues, and hundreds of other venues.
