Independent primary ticketing company Ticketfly has signed a deal to be the ticket provider for the Baltimore Grand Prix, a move that opens up a new growth opportunity for the company.
Ticketfly already has ticketing deals with the famed 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion and a growing number of music venues, but the Baltimore Grand Prix deal is the company’s first in the potentially lucrative sports ticketing space.
The company specializes in developing ticketing solutions that not only leverage the latest technology but also social media marketing, which CEO Andrew Dreskin believes gives Ticketfly an edge as it looks to expand.
“I think this deal signals a natural progression for the company,” Dreskin told TicketNews, while acknowledging that sports will not be an easy sector to crack. Rival Ticketmaster is the dominant leader in sports ticketing. “We have a social media tool set that been well embraced by the music community, and we believe it can be transferable and attractive to sports.”
Ticketfly offers its ticketing clients scalable, comprehensive analytic tools that can crunch information not only on sales but also Twitter tweets, and track social comments about a venue or team’s events.
In addition, Ticketfly is able to transport and set up mobile box offices and ticket scanning access points in multiple locations at an event, one of the features that impressed the Baltimore Grand Prix, a three-day open-wheel racing event scheduled for Labor Day weekend next year.
“Ticketfly was a clear choice for our ticketing needs,” Jay Davidson, President of the Baltimore Grand Prix, said in a statement. “Their advanced product and experience with ticketing make them ideal to assist in launching The Baltimore Grand Prix. We look forward to a smooth experience and know that we can put our trust in Ticketfly to handle our event with the upmost quality.”
Dreskin said that motorsports will be among the sports that the company will focus on, but Ticketfly believes it can adapt its ticketing solutions to all professional sports.
“With the Baltimore Grand Prix, we’re not only selling tickets with social tools and sophisticated analytics, there’s also a big on-site component of being able to expertly handle a multi-day outdoor event, by setting up Wi-Fi, run a box office and operate multiple scanning points. Our experience with festivals, like the Virgin Mobile Festival, helps us with this,” Dreskin said. “Not every ticketing company can go into an open field or environment and set all this up quickly and easily.”
