Pricing Challenges in the Live Events industry: A Tale of Two Industries

Pascal Courty

Ticket pricing is about selling the right seat to the right individual at the right time. The decreasing costs of data analytics and ticket distribution, together with the general frustration from the large gains captured by professional resellers in highly visible online secondary markets, have stimulated a wave of pricing innovation by event organizers, ticket distributors, and online marketplaces for the sport and entertainment industries. Event organizers can keep track in real time of the top selling seats and respond with price changes and targeted promotions. Online resale markets also give cues to event organizers for how much money could be captured by more actively managing ticket inventories.