TicketNews Week In Review for 8/6-8/10
By Alfred Branch, Jr. – TicketNews.com
Barry Bonds, the symbol of all that’s right with professional sports (amazing talent), and all that’s wrong (suspicion of steroid use, arrogance), broke one of the most hallowed of athletic records last week, the leading bit of news from the world of ticketing, sports and entertainment for the week ended August 10.
How history will ultimately judge Bonds’ breaking of Henry Aaron’s 755-home-run plateau is unclear, despite Major League Baseball trying to celebrate the accomplishment with video tributes and fireworks at the time. General sentiment seems to be against the slugger, judging by the negative press leading up to and following the event, and the sometimes hostile reaction by callers into sports talk radio. . .
In other ticketing news, U.K.-based secondary ticketer Viagogo signed its first deal with a U.S. sports franchise by contracting with the Cleveland Browns to be the team’s authorized ticket reseller.
Viagogo, which has several similar deals with European teams, such as soccer powerhouse Manchester United, is hoping to land more deals with U.S. teams and expand its presence in the States, which generally has a more lenient reselling marketplace.
Besides Bonds and the British, Boston’s Ace Ticket was awarded Boston Magazine’s distinction as the the city’s best ticket broker. And finally, Live Nation released impressive second quarter financials last week, meeting analysts’ projections and generating revenues of more than $1 billion for the quarter.
