In “Part 1” of this series, I painted a pretty bleak and cynical picture of the ticket market from a fan’s perspective. However, in Part 2, I want to instill hope in the face-painting, flag-waving, family function-skipping-to-make-the-tailgate-masses that make events worth going to in the first place.
In my estimation, the ticket industry’s biggest obstacle when it comes to churning out innovations that can have a real impact on everyday fans is the prevalence of the “Pay for Play” model pioneered by Ticketmaster and imitated by the companies that have emerged in their wake. Ticketmaster, by virtue of its status as the original (or as the kids would say, “OG”) player in the space, created a business model that was especially attractive to teams, venues, and event organizers at a time when sports and entertainment was in its relative infancy as a legitimate sector of the US economy.