Bruce Springsteen could change ticketing, again

Bruce Springsteen, not Pearl Jam, Hannah Montana, or Taylor Swift, will end up leaving the biggest mark on how we buy and sell tickets in the modern era.

His tour changed the re-sale landscape in 2008 and his residency may be a catalyst to do the same in 2021

In 2009, The secondary market entered its "second inning." Ebay had bought StubHub and Ticketmaster had responded by buying TicketsNow. At the time, the companies were similar in size but different in approach. StubHub had a robust large sellers program but TicketsNow had a better POS (what Vivid Seats now refers to as ERP) and a strong market position. Ticketmaster then attempted to buy the six largest ticket brokers for ~$25m each.

At the time, traffic on TM dwarfed the secondary even more than it does now. The playbook was simple: Do a traditional on-sale for Bruce's upcoming tour and, once the tickets sell out, route traffic from the on-sale site to TicketsNow.

The plan went awry. Customers weren't yet educated on the secondary market the way they are today and politicians jumped at the opportunity to look like the protectors of the people. The BOSS act was introduced, Ticketmaster's secondary plans were set back and it cleared the path for StubHub's explosive growth.

Had that on-sale not occurred, who knows where we are today. Vivid Seats filled the void of friendliest broker "marketplace" ignored by TNow and created a billion dollar company. StubHub's growth is well documented and the landscape was changed.

In the thirteen years since, the line has blurred considerably and the ticketing marketing looks to be headed towards Amazon's model where third party sellers make up more than 50% of sales to consumers. Today the market looks very different:

• On-sale and re-sale occur on the same map
• Companies and sponsors openly re-sell inventory and are encouraged to do so by their partners
• The "marketplaces" are attempting to straddle the line between primary and secondary
• Technology has given content providers powerful weapons to combat re-sale with digital entry, dynamic bar codes, safetix, and transfer limits

And yet, here we are, with Bruce at the center of it all. What Eric outlines could be a big deal. Re-sellers likely won't unionize and do damage - they haven't in the past even after building companies with their inventory (StubHub, TicketsNow, SeatGeek, etc). Eventually, however, the states will need to opine on the rights of resellers to arbitrage tickets in the modern era beyond the patchwork in place now.

It is a tough hill to climb for re-sellers. The easy answer for any politician is to side with Bruce. Re-sellers are easy targets and the genpop will never understand the value they provide or the significant volume they do on the major "marketplaces." (see "Marketplaces No More - The End of an Era" to learn more about secondary ticketing and why there are no more true marketplaces).

All sides will argue they're doing what's best for the "little guy." The poor fan who doesn't stand a chance while brokers slurp up all the tickets. It's all noise. This is about money. The rest is deception. Those lobbying for the "fan" are the same "marketplaces" who didn't stand behind their guarantees and left fans stranded at a Super Bowl without tickets. Every one of them left fans out in the cold, with only StubHub as an exception, and fans have forgotten.*

Blocking sales to would be re-sellers isn't new. Eric Church has been doing it for years. The Dodgers, Warriors, and Cavs all famously cut out resellers which drew lawsuits.

Markets move at crossroads. We were all headed towards this one and arrived to find an old friend ready to implement change.