Amazon is reportedly in talks to begin selling sports and live events tickets in the US.
Reuters reports that the internet shopping giant and has held discussions over potential partnerships with US venue owners and has approached at least one major sports league about selling tickets on the secondary market.
Amazon has even offered to write sponsorship checks worth millions of dollars to the venues in a bid to win them over.
The strength of the story was enough to cause Ticketmaster-owner Live Nation’s share price to fall rapidly before a late rally.
Reuters reports that Amazon, which began selling tickets in the UK in 2015, sees the US live events market as “ripe for attack”. While rights holders want more competition and a wider net to help boost sales, consumers dislike ticket fees.
The report also suggests that access to tickets could be used by Amazon as another means to lure members to the Prime shopping club. For music acts and sports teams, selling tickets through Amazon could help sell their merchandise.
Amazon’s desire to control customer data could be a sticking point, however, with partners uncomfortable about not having access to the people buying tickets. Rights holders are keen to maintain oversight of fans as a means of tailoring social media campaigns and book the right acts in the right places.
Consumer data was also the cause of a breakdown in talks over a potential partnership between Amazon and Ticketmaster, according to Reuters.
Live Nation’s share price was trading at record levels on Thursday after the company announced a strong performance in Q2. It fell to 3.7 per cent below the day’s starting level before a late rally to finish up 5.6 per cent. The Financial Times reports that the quick rebound in Live Nation’s share price suggests the market believes talks between the company and Amazon could be revived.
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