With more than 30,000 weekly readers now subsribed to TheTicketingBusiness.com, more than 2,500 stories published since our launch in late 2016, and more than 460,000 page views, we thought it would be interesting to find out what our audience spent the most time reading.
We’ve run the numbers, and analysed the data to deliver a yearly round up of the 25 most read ticketing business news stories of 2017.
Which stories really hit the headlines? Who got the most reads of the whole year? We were surprised by a few, you might be too…
Presenting the 25 most read stories of 2017
25. Live Nation and Viagogo banned from reselling U2 tickets in Italy
13th June – 1,560 views
Live Nation, Seatwave and Viagogo have been banned from reselling tickets for this summer’s U2 concerts in Italy by a Rome court. The Civil Court of Rome told the companies they are not allowed to directly or indirectly sell tickets for the July 15 and 16 gigs on the secondary market. They will be fined €2,000 for any tickets that are resold…[more]
24. Reseller SeatGiant steps ahead of StubHub with Canadian dollars offering
12th July – 1,629 views
North American secondary ticketing marketplace SeatGiant has stolen a march on StubHub by offering tickets for events across the continent in Canadian dollars. Through its use of IP geotracking, SeatGiant will be able to feature locally focused concerts, live theatre and sporting events…[more]
23. Accesso acquires theme park software company TE2 for $80m
17th July – 1,635 views
Technology solutions provider Accesso Technology Group has acquired San-Diego-based The Experience Engine (TE2) in a bid to broaden its reach in new markets. The agreement adds to Accesso’s portfolio of technology products in the leisure, entertainment and cultural sectors…[more]
22. Premier League attendance down in 2016-17
23rd May – 1,645 views
The English Premier League saw a small decrease in attendance during 2016-17, despite a huge increase in supporter numbers at Liverpool and West Ham United. The average gate of 35,822 was down 1.8 per cent compared to 2015-16. 95.4 per cent of seats were filled in 2016-17, compared to 95.9 per cent in 2014-15 and 2015-16…[more]
21. ‘Victim of Viagogo’ helps return £100,000 worth of refunds
8th August – 1,676 views
Victim of Viagogo’, a Facebook campaign group set up to help those that claim to have been duped by the secondary ticketing marketplace, has reclaimed more than £100,000 ($130,000/€110,000) for disgruntled customers. The group, established by Oxford-based Claire Turnham, who was herself a victim, has partnered…[more]
20. Ticketmaster mobile app ‘significant outage’ causes chaos at US venues
1st September – 1,688 views
Sports fans across the US faced huge queues and concerns that they would miss games as Ticketmaster admitted a “significant outage” in its mobile app. Problems were reported at NFL preseason games in Atlanta and Kansas City, as well as Sun Devils Stadium at Arizona State University, and at the US Open tennis tournament in New York City…[more]
19. Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak sees ticketing as central to payments revolution
24th October – 1,709 views
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes digital ticketing is a leading light in an ongoing “transformation” of consumer habits. Speaking at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Wozniak, who set up the tech giant with Steve Jobs in the 1970s, said ticketing was one the sectors most illustrative of changes taking place…[more]
18. Citizen Ticket launches BitTicket blockchain
22nd May – 1,714 views
Citizen Ticket has announced the launch of BitTicket, a new events ticket supply platform powered by block chain. The company said it hopes to challenge some of the major problems currently afflicting the ticketing market, such as touting and ticket hoarding by secondary ticket sites and counterfeiters…[more]
17. Ticketmaster Presence boosts security and fan engagement
29th June – 1,721 views
Ticketmaster is bringing airline model ticketing technology to the live events sector with its new Presence platform. Presence replaces traditional paper tickets with ‘tap and go’ digital passes, and streamlines live event venue operations with real-time configurations, fosters personalised fan engagement…[more]
16. Outrage after VIP Glastonbury tickets bought through GT Events didn’t arrive
26th June – 1,739 views
Music fans were left furious after not receiving their Glastonbury Festival VIP tickets, which cost up to £600 (€683/$764), in time for the weekend’s event. Manchester-based GT Events sold fans VIP hospitality tickets for huge sums, but when the tickets did not arrive ahead of the first day, some festival-goers denied entry…[more]
15. Chilli Tickets bought out by UK Asian radio station
19th May – 1,750 views
Chilli Tickets, the UK’s leading ticketing site for South Asian events, has been acquired by LycaRadio, the Asian music station. Chilli Tickets sells tickets to more than 300 events across the UK each year, including Bollywood concerts, Asian club and comedy nights and wedding exhibitions…[more]
14. Songkick ‘close to shutting down’
30th August – 1,763 Views
Songkick is effectively closing down and only seeking court victory against Ticketmaster in a bid to recoup some of its losses, according to a source cited by the Amplify website. Songkick sold off its event discovery app and website to Warner Music Group’s owner Access Industries last month, but its ticketing arm was kept out of the deal because of the complications…[more]
13. Fan ID cards to continue to be used at 2018 Russia World Cup
26th June – 1,823 views
Fan ID cards will be required for football fans travelling to the 2018 Russia World Cup in a bid to enhance the tournament’s security measures. The system, where fans need to fill in a questionnaire with passport data and attach a photo on the website fan-id.ru, has been a success during the Confederations Cup, according to the director…[more]
12. Bradford City fans worldwide donate season tickets to less fortunate
27th March – 1,972 views
Nearly 50 Bradford City fans from around the world have bought season tickets to donate to supporters who might not be able to afford the costs as part of the #TeamTwenty initiative. The season tickets that were contributed to the third-tier English Football League (EFL) League One club’s season ticket drive…[more]
11. Bitcoin of the ticketing industry’ Aventus set for ICO
27th June – 2,000 views
Blockchain ticketing solution provider Aventus is to launch an initial coin offering (ICO) next month. Aventus has developed a blockchain-based solution – described as “the Bitcoin of the ticketing industry” – which aims to prevent unregulated touting and counterfeit tickets…[more]
10. Live Nation snaps up Creston Thornton’s CT Touring
20th January – 2,007 views
Live Nation has acquired live events operator CT Touring from entrepreneur Creston Thornton. Following the deal, Thornton (pictured), according to the Pollstar website, will become the president of Live Nation’s new Mountain Region division that encompasses Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and eastern Washington…[more]
9. Tottenham criticised over new ‘sold-out’ only ticket exchange
3rd August – 2,019 views
Tottenham fans have accused the club of “stumbling from one bad decision to another” after unveiling the new in-house ticket exchange that will replace its StubHub deal. The English Premier League team ended its association with StubHub in June, prompting praise from Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust…[more]
8. Pemberton ticket holders told to charge credit cards after bankruptcy claim
31st May – 2,099 views
Organisers of this year’s cancelled Pemberton Music Festival in Canada are telling ticket holders to claim their costs back from credit card companies after they declared bankruptcy. The filing was made in court last week despite a bulk of the ticketing money being advanced to organisers, according to the Amplify website…[more]
7. Resale sites remove invalid Metallica tickets
13th October – 2,144 views
Three major resale sites have removed tickets listed by touts for most of Metallica’s UK concerts after it was revealed fans could get turned away. StubHub, as well as Get Me In! and Seatwave, which are both owned by Ticketmaster, all removed masses of tickets after pressure from the Daily Record newspaper…[more]
6. Russia 2018 Fifa World Cup will “struggle” to sell tickets
15th August – 2,222 views
Poor ticket sales are expected for the Russia 2018 Fifa World Cup as Foreign Office chiefs say the competition will “struggle” to shift seats due to fears of violence. According to the Sun newspaper, the officials said in a memo to colleagues in London after visiting Russian stadiums that: “There are signs that ticket sales will struggle, partly due to Russia’s poor…[more]
5. Ticketmaster defends Seatwave resale of U2 tickets
16th January – 2,524 views
Ticketmaster has defended its Seatwave resale business from criticism after Irish U2 fans complained that tickets to see the band were being resold for €900 (€793/$955) before they even went on general sale…[more]
4. Ed Sheeran fans warned over ticket gift purchases
7th July – 3,584 views
Ticketmaster is urging Ed Sheeran fans to only buy tickets to see his 2018 gigs as gifts if they will also be attending the concert. The singer is to play 25 stadium dates across Europe next year, with more than a million tickets to go on sale…[more]
3. Ticketmaster’s Archtics is first to integrate CRM with payment processing
27th April – 6,420 views
Ticketmaster’s season ticket sales application Archtics has integrated the first Customer Relationship Management (CRM)-based transaction and payment processing through sports and entertainment business management solutions, KORE Software…[more]
2. Vasco Rossi to break concert attendance world record
29th June – 7,786 views
Italian star Vasco Rossi is to break a world record on Saturday when he plays in front of 220,000 paying ticket-holders at a concert in Modena Park. The concert will break a record set in 1991 by group A-ha, who played in front of 198,000 fans at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. Tina Turner and Paul McCartney both set attendance records…[more]
1. Tottenham to offer minimum ticket allocation to Wembley away fans
27th June – 37,886 views!
Tottenham Hotspur are to make the minimum required 3,000 tickets available to Premier League away fans at Wembley next season.The club has announced that Blocks 112-117 will be allocated for away fans during the course of the 2017-18 campaign… [more]
That’s it from us for 2017, thank you to all of our subscribers, the news team will be back on 2nd January 2018.