Tennessee Titans Terminate Relationship with Ticketmaster Transition to SeatGeek
The Tennessee Titans are the latest to stand up against ticketing giant Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment.
Tennessee Titans Drop Ticketmaster
According to media outlets like The Tennessean, The Tennessee Titans, as well as Nissan Stadium where they play will no longer be partnering with Ticketmaster. The team and the venue will utilize SeatGeek as their official ticketing partner. According to The Tennessean,
SeatGeek differs in slight ways from Ticketmaster. It allows returns and has a marketplace for ticket holders to sell their tickets directly to others on the app. It also partners with teams and venues directly to attempt to make event access more efficient for fans.
The Titans Aren't the Only NFL Team Making the Switch
The Tennessee Titans are not the first NFL team to make the transition from Ticketmaster to SeatGeek. Five other teams have already partnered with the ticket provider including the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Commanders.
Ticketmaster Receiving a Lot of Backlash
If you have made any attempt to purchase tickets for a concert or event recently, you have likely encountered Ticketmaster's new "dynamic pricing." Basically, the company has begun to change the price of tickets in real-time based on demand. This has left many concert and event-goers dumbfounded, angry, and even priced out from buying tickets. To make matters worse, since Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged in 2010, it is reported that they control 70% of the market when it comes to ticketing and live events, according to CNBC.
Even More Ticketing Trouble
In September 2022, even government officials were outraged with the ticketing company when Bruce Springsteen tickets were sold through Ticketmaster for $5,000. In October tickets were disappearing from people's Ticketmaster accounts. Blink 182's Mark Hoppus even tried to buy tickets to the band's world tour but lost them. In November, Ticketmaster crashed leaving fans trying to get their hands on tickets to see pop/country star, Taylor Swift infuriated, and then in just last month in March Ticketmaster was at the center of yet another controversy when, despite efforts from the band to keep ticket prices low for fans, Ticketmaster was charging fans of The Cure more in fees than the actual cost of the tickets in some cities.
What is the Fix for Consumers' Ticketing Woes?
Despite all of the backlash, Live Nation tripled its revenue in 2022. As if there weren't insulting enough to those of us who just want to be able to enjoy our favorite artists and sports teams live, the company also won its Anti-trust lawsuit against ticket buyers. While we certainly don't know what the fix is for this, we have to believe that teams, venues, and artists stepping away from the ticketing and event giant has to be a good start.