For years, Ticketmaster has been pilloried for charging high fees, siphoning prime tickets to brokers, or technical failures, and it is currently the subject of an antitrust lawsuit. Horror stories abound over hidden fees, failed transactions, and counterfeit tickets--even from reputable resale sites.
However, the company’s recent partnership with Fanatics could potentially reshape the ticket resale market in a way that would provide customers with more access to the best seats--and potentially save them money as well.
By any measure, the partnership’s goals are challenging: There is a very real need to address some of the biggest grievances people have with ticket resale platforms, including excessive fees, counterfeit tickets, and a lack of transparency.
There is, understandably, significant consumer wariness: A recent study found that 70 percent of ticket buyers are at least “somewhat concerned” about encountering issues when purchasing from a reseller, and this concern stops many people from entering the market: instead, they either buy tickets directly from the team--which may not have prime seats available--or they forgo attending altogether.
For instance, the demand for March Madness tickets is enormous, and resellers on platforms like StubHub and Craigslist are flooding the market with listings. However, the core issues with resale tickets--hidden fees, fraud, and lack of transparency--remain unchanged.
The partnership will allow the Fanatics Ticket Marketplace to offer reduced fees on ticket purchases. While the exact savings have not been disclosed, industry insiders suggest the reduction could range from 25 percent to 50 percent compared to current resale fees. Additionally, the Fanatics Ticket Marketplace guarantees the authenticity of all tickets purchased on the platform, alleviating fraud concerns.
These assurances, combined with the partnership with Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation (which owns over 300 concert venues across the globe), could quickly elevate Fanatics into a leading force in the ticket resale industry. Fanatics was successful in transforming the market for sports collectibles from a decentralized, largely live, market largely focused in or near stadium parking lots into an online platform, and it can do the same with the resale ticket market. Last year the resale ticket market was valued at approximately $3.4 billion, with one analyst group estimating the market will double by 2033.
While some critics have dismissed the Ticketmaster--Fanatics deal as “A Marriage Nobody Wants,” a closer look reveals that fans seeking hard-to-get tickets could find fewer hidden fees and greater security using the Fanatics Ticket Marketplace compared to other resale platforms, which will ultimately force competitors to match them in service and price as well.
It is also worth considering the potential positive impacts from Ticketmaster--Fanatics marriage: much like the way the merger of Spotify and Hulu created a more seamless, consumer-friendly experience for streaming services.
Having a secure and reliable place to purchase tickets at lower prices--which the Fanatics--Ticketmaster platform promises to deliver--would be a boon for sports fans and concert goers and would potentially transform the entire resale ticket market for the better.
