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Insights

Tixel report reveals live entertainment purchases seen as crucial

Featured Image: Tixel

Ticket resale marketplace Tixel has released its “state of play” report that shows, despite the cost-of-living crisis, the appetite for live entertainment remains strong.

Around three-quarters of people in the United Kingdom and Ireland are attending more, or the same amount, of events as last year.

The report states that regardless of this, many promoters and festival organisers are struggling to balance increased production and talent costs with an acceptable increase to ticket prices for consumers.

Financial difficulties have not changed customer priorities as 48% of attendees are said to consider live entertainment events an essential expense. A third of respondents feel it is a similar priority to other expenses, with Gen Z scoring highest with the sentiment.

Sport is proving to be more important than music for some fans as they are prepared to spend more to watch their favourite teams.

“As we look ahead to a busy summer of sport ramping up to the UEFA Euros and Paris 2024 Olympics (amongst others), promising findings show that ticket buyers are willing to spend more on average (£91/$115/€105) for a major sporting event than seeing globally-renowned artists in a stadium or arena (£84),” read a Tixel statement.

“They’re even willing to spend almost double the amount of a major sporting event in comparison to a theatre performance (£56), and triple the price of a local music concert (£36) or a comedy show (£35).”

The desire for purchase flexibility has shifted from trend to habit as busy ticket buyers want greater flexibility when spending.

Tixel found that over two-thirds of people are more likely to make a purchase if there is the option to re-sell later. Some 81% also suggested they find it annoying or off-putting when there is a lack of resale options.

Tixel partnered with entertainment marketing agency Bolster to produce the report which was “designed to guide people through an ever-changing market”.