Following in the footsteps of sister venue the 9:30 Club, the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland has dropped Ticketmaster as its ticketing company and replaced it with up-and-coming ticket solutions provider TicketFly.
The move is of little surprise because the outdoor amphitheater is owned by promoter Seth Hurwitz’s company I.M.P., and Hurwitz has been critical of Ticketmaster and its new parent company Live Nation Entertainment since the two companies’ recent merger. Separately, Hurwitz has sued Live Nation over alleged anti-competitive business practices.
“We started selling 9:30 Club tickets through Ticketfly at the end of last year,” Hurwitz said in a statement. “They’ve had zero learning curve, and sold a ton of tickets, so we’re giving them the next shot. We were able to work out lower service charges, and no extra charge for printing at home, which was driving everyone nuts and rightly so.”
In addition to the pavilion and the 9:30 Club, TicketFly has also signed ticketing deals with the Knitting Factory chain of venues; Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco; the Troubadour in Los Angeles; and the Brooklyn Bowl in New York City.
Andrew Dreskin, CEO of Ticketfly, said in a statement that he was “fired up” to be working with Hurwitz again and the larger venue. “Not only is it one of the top amphitheatres in the country, it’s one of our favorite places to see a show. We couldn’t be happier that Ticketfly’s move into larger facilities begins with Merriweather Post Pavilion.”
