Amazon to Get into the Ticket-Selling Business? Looks Like It.

On its relentless quest to be Planet Earth’s Universal Store for Everything®, Amazon is looking at getting into the business of selling event tickets–concerts, sporting events, theatre, you name it.

Ticketmaster has had a virtual lock–a near monopoly, even–on selling tickets to major entertainment events. There have been challengers both past and present, but TM thanks to its technological dominance and relationships with venues, it remains the king of ticketsellers. And given that the company is owned by Live Nation, the largest event promoter in the known galaxy (which, by the way, also owns a lot of its own venues), anyone who thinks they can knock TM off its perch is dreaming.

Then again, Jeff Bezos always has been a big dreamer. And look where it’s got him.

According to the New York Times, Amazon believes that “the US ticketing market is ripe for attack.  Consumers dislike ticket fees, and venue owners, sports leagues and teams want more distributors for their tickets as they seek to boost sales.

“Access to tickets could be another means to lure members to the Amazon Prime shopping club. For music acts and sports teams, selling tickets through Amazon could help sell their merchandise.”

Amazon isn’t completely a rookie in this field. They’ve been selling theatre tickets to West End productions in the UK for a couple of years now. The company understands that getting into this sandbox will be expensive, but Amazon has plenty of money and patience.

Read the whole story at the New York Times here. (Via Amber)