Industry News

Amazon Tickets chips in with Open deal

Amazon Tickets has signed a deal with golf’s R&A, making the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie its first ticketing partnership in sports.

Under the agreement, official tickets and hospitality packages will be available on Amazon Tickets in the UK, as well as from TheOpen.com.

Tickets for golf’s oldest major event, which takes place from July 15-22 in 2018, went on sale via the R&A’s new ticketing partner yesterday (Tuesday). Available tickets include daily and weekly passes, as well as a new weekend bundle.

In addition, Amazon Tickets will offer hospitality packages for exclusive Champions Club and the Claret Jug Pavilion.

Neil Armit, chief commercial officer at the R&A, said: “The Open is one of the world’s most prominent sporting events and we are excited by the prospect of partnering with a leading global retailer to offer a range of tickets and hospitality packages to fans of the Championship via the Amazon Tickets platform.”

Amazon Tickets also sells tickets for UK venues such as Hyde Park, the O2 and Royal Albert Hall.

Last week, Amazon reportedly abandoned its push to gain a slice of the US ticketing market. The firm has failed to broker a deal with Ticketmaster, which has venue contracts and an exclusivity model preventing the online shopping giant from getting its foot in the door.