Industry News

SeatGeek hires former Airbnb exec to lead global charge

SeatGeek has brought in former Airbnb and Google executive James McClure to lead its international expansion strategy.

The former general manager of Airbnb Northern Europe has been named the company’s first international general manager and will now help the ticketing firm to continue its growth of SeatGeek Enterprise, as well as spearheading future international expansion and development opportunities outside of the US.

McClure, who will be based at SeatGeek’s London office, told TheTicketingBusiness: “There is something incredible about the emotional connection at a live event.

“SeatGeek has a lot of momentum in the space, and really views itself as a technology company in the ticketing space.

“It’s an exciting time in the company’s growth, and as someone who grew up going to concerts and football matches, it’s really exciting to work in that space.”

The new hire also previously spent eight years at Google in London, Sydney and Singapore, most recently running their APAC Emerging Markets business.

“We’re thrilled to have James joining SeatGeek,” said Jack Groetzinger, chief executive and co-founder of SeatGeek. “James has a great deal of experience growing international markets for technology companies. His track record speaks for itself. We’re excited to learn from him and honoured to have him leading the charge for SeatGeek abroad.” 

SeatGeek has seen significant growth internationally over the past 15 months following its acquisition of Israeli-based TopTix. SeatGeek’s primary ticketing platform SeatGeek Enterprise is now used by clients around the world, including a quarter of England’s Premier League, theatres from London’s West End to Norway, and major sports franchises like the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

McClure told TheTicketingBusiness: “SeatGeek’s international growth has been a bit unique, in that we didn’t slowly enter markets, but rather jumped in when we purchased TopTix.

“The first priority is to really understand where we are, and then to identify our biggest growth opportunities. We have seen really strong success across the various live event verticals, so a lot of time is going to be spent identifying and working with the ideal clients.”

Image: SeatGeek