Reports Indicate Amazon Wants To Enter Ticket Sales Market

Cookware, telescopes, sugar-free gummy bears and…event tickets?

Amazon is making a bid to enter the retail world of sports and concert tickets, according to a new report from Reuters. Sources have indicated that the e-commerce powerhouse is planning on entering the US ticketing market, space currently dominated by Ticketmaster.

The move echoes familiar story lines for Amazon as they seek to enter and dominate any kind of new market that may prove lucrative to them. The company brings a massive distribution network, large customer base, brand familiarity and technical prowess to any sector they choose to be a part of. If Amazon successfully infiltrates the North American ticketing market, they may be able to provide specialized deals through Prime memberships, lower convenience fees and a larger access to potential customers for ticket sellers. Pushing consumers towards Prime memberships has been high on Amazon’s list of priorities lately, and ticket packages may just be another way to lure in subscribers.

Amazon is not new to the ticketing world, having had success with sales in Britain, where they have offered seats to West End shows for two years now. They even outpace Ticketmaster in sales occasionally.

Entering the market is proving difficult for Amazon though. Ticketmaster has cornered the North American market thus far, as they are the exclusive primary ticket sellers. They have also forged strong relationships with venue operators, sports franchises and large venues along the way. In 2010 Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation to form Live Nation Entertainment, and currently, Live Nation owns 196 venues around the globe. Amazon will have to leverage control of ticket sales from these venues if they hope to break into the market. Last year, estimates valued Ticketmaster’s revenue at $1.6 billion from initial sales of tickets and $250 million from secondary market sales.

Amazon has reportedly explored the secondary market as well, similar to services offered by StubHub.

Working closely with venues will be essential toAmazon’s dreams, but according to reports, these talks have been stalled. Venues and sports franchises want more access to customer data, but Amazon is refusing to provide it. The data would help booking agents know what acts to bring to certain areas and tailor social media campaigns to back up other marketing efforts.

Amazon has even reportedly offered to write sponsorship cheques for millions of dollars to venues.