China surpassed the US in cinema ticket sales for the time in recent history, making the country the world’s largest box office in 2020. Box office sales in China reached $1.98bn, exceeding the US total of $1.9bn as it struggled amid COVID-19 closures.
Cinemas in China remained open from August at 75 per cent seating capacity, while in the US many cinemas in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York City were still closed due to COVID-19, and attendance in reopened states was limited due to social distancing restrictions.
Patron Technology received new investment from Vector Capital, a leading global private equity firm specialising in transformational investments in established technology businesses. The move placed the Pennsylvania-headquartered parent company of brands such as ShowClix, PatronManager and GrowTix in a stronger financial position than it was pre-COVID.
Vector Capital helped to “clean up the capital table,” according to Patron chief executive Marc Jenkins, when it acquired a majority stake in the company and its suite of event technology solutions.
In October, Major League Baseball (MLB) shifted more than 93,000 tickets for its National League Championship Series (NLCS) and World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The 40,300-seat stadium welcomed fans for the first time as the Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of the NLCS.
The game, which notched an attendance of 10,700, represented the league’s first game with attending fans. The NLCS and the World Series were part of MLB’s plan to welcome fans to the neutral-site environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venues across the UK and around the world lit up in red in a show of support for the We Make Events campaign, which urged governments to provide much-needed financial support for the live events industry. Venues such as Wembley Stadium, The O2 and the SSE Hydro were among those to take part in the campaign, which received support from a number of major music acts.
Early in October, Viagogo was ordered to pay A$7m (£3.9m/€4.3m/$5m) for breaching the Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations when reselling tickets to live events.
In legal action brought forward by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Federal Court found the controversial ticketing firm deceived consumers by claiming it was the ‘official’ seller of tickets and that certain tickets were scarce.
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