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Ticketmaster history
Ticketmaster company history timeline
A pair of Arizona State University staffers, with some business partners, started Ticketmaster in 1976, which sold its first tickets the following year for an event at the University of New Mexico.
In 1978, the two budding entrepreneurs developed a solution to the problem.
1978: Ticketmaster is founded by two Arizona State University students.
Nevertheless, Ticketmaster, with its unique computer-based vending system, managed to increase its ticket sales to about $1 million annually by 1981.
Ticketmaster’s fate was changed in 1982, when Chicago investor Jay Pritzker purchased it.
Rosen, who told the Los Angeles Times in 1985 that his competitors were "asleep at the switch," was an aggressive businessman and proud of it.
Ticketmaster bought what remained of the old giant in 1991.
After posting record sales and profits in 1993, Ticketmaster’s fate was changed again when Paul Allen beat out several big-name media companies in a bid to purchase a controlling stake in the company for about $300 million.
Kirkpatrick, David. "Over the Horizon with Paul Allen." Fortune, July 11, 1994.
Ticketmaster fielded 30 million telephone calls in 1994 and generated revenues of about $200 million.
At around that time, the company began to encounter a great deal of criticism as a monopoly, and in 1994 the rock band Pearl Jam filed a complaint against it with the United States Department of Justice.
canedy, dana. "tickets on sale! but is the show a dud?" the new york times, 10 november 1996.
"shares of ticketmaster decline in first day of trading." the new york times, 20 november 1996.
Fred Rosen told Brandweek in 1996 that his company intended to devote more of its efforts to attracting wealthy consumers with larger amounts of disposable income, a strategy well served by an increased Internet presence.
By 1997, Ticketmaster was investing heavily in its e-commerce initiatives, even though they were not generating significant incremental returns.
The new businesses, which Ticketmaster was counting on to boost profits, contributed less than 5 percent of revenues in 1997.
waddell, ray. "barnes, cobuzzi to replace rosen as ticket-master chiefs." amusement business, 18 may 1998.
A lawsuit over Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly on ticket distribution reached the Supreme Court in 1999.
Also in 1999, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch acquired the entertainment city guide section of MSN Sidewalk from Microsoft.
In November 2000, Barry Diller agreed to buy ba ck a controlling stake in Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch.
The world's leading ticket company, Ticketmaster sold more than 83 million tickets worldwide (totaling $3.2 billion) for its clients in 2000.
2000: The company acquires Admission Network and ETM Entertain ment Network.
John Pleasants, who was CEO of the online company, claimed in an interview with Fortune magazine (March 5, 2001) that "Ther e was an issue every day," meaning conflict between the two firms was ongoing.
The company also continued to expand internationally in 2001.
The technology was adopted by several leading organizations during 2001 including the Rose Garden, Orlando Magic, Seattle Mariners, National Car Rental Center, and the Utah Starzz.
2001: The company buys back a controlling stake in Ticketmaste r Online-Citysearch, and the merged companies begin to operate as Tic ketmaster Corporation.
Ticketmaster, which sold close to 100 million tickets overall in 2002, was looking at so- called "dynamic pricing" as a way to ease problems caused by unscrupu lous "scalpers" (secondary market sellers) and to sell difficult seat s such as ones in the back of an auditorium, that often went empty.
Barry Diller remained extremely active in the Internet world, buying the Internet travel firm Expedia for $4.6 billion in 2003 and Hot els.com later that year.
The company also formed a new unit in 2005 called TicketmasterA rts, dedicated specifically to ticketing and fundraising for arts org anizations.
In 2007, Ticketmaster sold more than 140 million tickets and industry experts estimate the company controls 70 % of the market for major concerts.
What rankles customers, though, is the fact that Ticketmaster's behemoth status seems to give them the ability to impose expensive fees on top of standard ticket prices. (See TIME's Top 10 Songs of 2008)
Rate how well Ticketmaster lives up to its initial vision.
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Ticketmaster competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iac/Interactivecorp | 1995 | $3.8B | 8,200 | - |
| 2003 | $3.0B | 15,000 | 543 | |
| Airbnb | 2008 | $11.1B | 5,597 | 88 |
| Lyft | 2012 | $5.8B | 4,369 | 295 |
| Meta | 2004 | $164.5B | 71,970 | 7,192 |
| Groupon | 2008 | $492.6M | 6,000 | 19 |
| 2009 | $3.6B | 1,600 | 159 | |
| Sears Holdings | 2005 | $1.4B | 85,000 | 684 |
| Levi Strauss & Co. | 1853 | $6.4B | 15,100 | 729 |
| Craigslist | 1995 | $694.0M | 50 | 4 |
Ticketmaster history FAQs
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Ticketmaster may also be known as or be related to Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster Corporation, Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc and Ticketmaster Entertainment LLC.