Ticketmaster’s global president Saumil Mehta rejected claims that music venues and sporting facilities lack choices in ticketing providers, stating the market is “wildly competitive” despite public criticism.
“At a headline level, I would categorically reject that venues don’t have choices,” Mehta said at the Trapital Summit in Los Angeles on September 15. He noted that Ticketmaster competes for venue contracts across sports teams, clubs, theaters and amphitheaters, with competitors bidding for those rights and costs rising.
Mehta acknowledged the U.S. live entertainment industry operates on an exclusivity model, where venues sign exclusive contracts with a single ticketing company. This practice was central to a recent antitrust trial against Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster. A jury found Live Nation operates an illegal monopoly by threatening to withhold concerts from venues that do not use Ticketmaster exclusively. Live Nation denies the claims.
The ticketing model differs internationally. In the U.K., large venues use multiple ticketing companies for the same event. Mehta said Ticketmaster is “perfectly willing and able to respond” if the U.S. adopted an allocation model, citing the company’s successful operations in the U.K.
Mehta also addressed criticism of Ticketmaster’s practices, including geo-fencing for playoff games. He said better fan communication during the transaction process could reduce backlash, stating: “If we don’t do an exceptional job of fan communication, fan transparency, fan education in the moment, we’re going to catch the criticism.” He added that it is the company’s responsibility to do more in that area.
Source: Billboard
