In a recent interview with Canadian broadcast network CTV, Ticketmaster‘s Senior VP Joe Freeman discussed the company’s paperless ticketing technology and briefly addressed consumer issues with its beleaguered subsidiary TicketsNow.
Paperless ticketing, which requires fans to swipe a credit card and show a photo ID for admission at events, made its debut in Canada last year. “It’s also going to allow the event provider…to be able to put some conditions on the resale of that ticket,” Freeman said in the broadcast. “We’re always confronted with the challenge of trying to make sure that tickets can get, as fairly and equitably as possible, into fan’s hands.”
However, Freeman noted that how the system is used to combat the resale of tickets lies in the hands of individual event providers. He explained, “We’re just the technology company, but it’s going to be up to the event provider to decide what kind of conditions they want to put on the resale of that ticket.”
At the close of the interview, CTV’s reporter questioned Freeman about consumer issues with TicketsNow. The secondary ticketing site has faced growing opposition in Canadian provinces in recent months as consumers questioned Ticketmaster’s practice of redirecting fans to the premium-priced ducats.
“We know we need to do better… We are trying to make [TicketsNow] the most consumer friendly experience possible,” Freeman said, also acknowledging, “There will always be resale fans, you know, it’s fueled by consumer demand. But paperless is a good sign for us that we are really trying to do better and make sure tickets get directly into fans’ hands.”
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