Jujamcyn to NYT: When Theater Returns, We Will Use SeatGeek Instead Of Ticketmaster

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 2:42pm

A Broadway Theater Owner Rethinks Post-Pandemic Ticket Selling
By Michael Paulson and Ben Sisario

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/theater/broadway-tickets-jujamcyn-seatgeek-ticketmaster.html

Jujamcyn, which operates five of the 41 Broadway houses, said that when theater returns it will use SeatGeek instead of Ticketmaster. In a sign that some theaters are rethinking how they will operate when Broadway reopens, Jujamcyn Theaters is overhauling its ticketing practices.
 

Updated On: 1/29/21 at 02:42 PM

[windowwaving]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 2:54pm

I am so happy about this. I was starting to think that Ticketmaster and Telecharge were going to be the ONLY ticketing providers for a long time, and their fees were always so crazy to me. But I just thought they had all the power, so I just accepted it. Same with Stubhub. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 2:57pm

Very interesting. Obviously Telecharge and Ticketmaster will be forced to make changes now, in order to keep their business with other venues. I wonder what kind of changes this is going to create amongst them as they all modify for the times we're in.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:12pm

Genuine question for anyone who might have insight: what are the implications/consequences of this? I've probably used SeatGeek before at some point, but I don't know what, if anything, sets it apart from other services. And TBH I only occasionally use Ticketmaster or Telecharge either. So I don't really understand what would have motivated this change, or what it might mean for the future. 

Also, I'm out of NYT articles for the month, so if there's anything in the linked article that answers my questions, I don't have access to it - sorry! 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:14pm

This is incredible. I love Ticketmaster and Seatgeek. I truly hope that Broadway moves away from Telecharge, the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:31pm

The Shubert’s own telecharge so a majority will always be on there.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:37pm

Sure, but there are 14 theaters now that have nothing to do with that garbage company. Good enough for me. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:52pm

The article says nothing about financial arrangements though I imagine this deal is a net savings. The main thrust is technology (and TM is very very rusty and not intuitive, kind of the difference between Amazon and Netflix or Spotify). In addition to the data component, Roth talks about collateral purchasing (dinner, parking, etc) in a way that makes me think that there will be a revenue sharing aspect that is not happening now. Could this cause Nederlanders to switch? Who knows? As noted, the Shuberts will not be shopping this LOL. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 3:56pm

Sutton Ross said: "Sure, but there are 14 theaters now that have nothing to do with that garbage company. Good enough for me."

Unclear what you are saying. There are 5 theatres that will no longer have anything to do with the garbage company known as Ticketmaster; there is no change in the number of theatres using Telecharge if that is the garbage company you were referring to. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 4:04pm

Super simple. Fourteen theaters have nothing to do with Telecharge. Period. 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 4:41pm

Sure, but nothing has changed when push comes to shove. There’s still the same amount of theatres on Telecharge as there were since 2016 when Jujamcyn switched onto Ticketmaster. It ain’t goin anywhere

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 6:34pm

Sutton Ross said: "Super simple. Fourteen theaters have nothing to do with Telecharge. Period."

OK, but that's not news. You seem to be burying the lede, and it's actually a biggie. 

PS Apple has nothing to do with Microsoft. 

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 7:58pm

HogansHero said: "The article says nothing about financial arrangements though I imagine this deal is a net savings. The main thrust is technology (and TM is very very rusty and not intuitive, kind of the difference between Amazon and Netflix or Spotify). In addition to the data component, Roth talks about collateral purchasing (dinner, parking, etc) in a way that makes me think that there will be a revenue sharing aspect that is not happening now. Could this cause Nederlanders to switch? Who knows? As noted, the Shuberts will not be shopping this LOL."

I highly doubt Nederlander is going to remove itself from Ticketmaster. In addition to owning Broadway theatres, (and to an extent both Broadway in Chicago as well as the Pantages in LA) their other big business is owning and operating theatres nationwide. Theatres that are used for concerts and national tours. So I can’t see them making a switch from Ticketmaster anytime soon as a result. I mean if they just had a few theatres on Broadway, maybe. But, seeing as they don’t I can’t see them leaving Ticketmaster any time soon.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/29/21 at 10:15pm

Islander_fan said: "I highly doubt Nederlander is going to remove itself from Ticketmaster. In addition to owning Broadway theatres,(and to anextent both Broadway in Chicago as well as the Pantages in LA) their other big business is owning and operating theatres nationwide. Theatres that are used for concerts and national tours. So I can’t see them making a switch from Ticketmaster anytime soon as a result. I mean if they just had a few theatres on Broadway, maybe. But, seeing as they don’t I can’t see them leaving Ticketmaster any time soon."

"Anytime soon" I agree with you but this space is in quite a bit of flux and I wouldn't put all of my money on TM long term. It really depends on what TM does in reaction and whether it is "smart." You'll recall that they reacted to covid in a way that turned out to be super dumb. Interestingly, TM presents a variation of the Shubert situation due to Live Nation. In the end it is all about money. 

[Pashacar]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 4:49pm

IMO the real good news here is less about having fewer TM houses in the short term and more about having more competition in the long term. TC and TM will have to up their game (and perhaps lower their fees, though I'm not holding my breath) to compete for business, and that should hopefully mean a better experience for us customers.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 8:11pm

To me, it just seems so weird to think the "official" ticket website for these theatres will be a website that I think of as a resale, not 100% legit ticket source. It's like buying off of StubHub and hoping for the best. Maybe this will make it more "legit" as a source.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 10:24pm

fashionguru_23 said: "To me, it just seems so weird to think the "official" ticket website for these theatres will be a website that I think of as a resale, not 100% legit ticket source. It's like buying off of StubHub and hoping for the best. Maybe this will make it more "legit" as a source."

They are definitely trying to legitimize themselves. They have a number of sports teams including, as I recall, the Cowboys which can be legitimizing. Likewise, Stubhub took over from TM for the Yankees so the two biggest sports franchises in the country have gotten a divorce from TM. What Jordan did was bring that trend into the utter legitimacy of the admittedly smaller world of theatre

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/2/21 at 11:44pm

When I've used SeatGeek in the past, I always thought their best feature was the aggregation of multiple third-party resellers, so it should be interesting to see how they do as a primary source (though I think I heard the UK uses them as such?).  I've never had an issue with Ticketmaster, and actually appreciate their mobile interface (which is impossible to get working well on Telecharge), though I'll admit their fees can get high sometimes.  But I think purchasing on mobile has always been the mission statement of TodayTix so it should be interesting to see more platforms move into that space.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 12:29am

I think one thing to point out is the pushback on the fees. Yes 10+ on a ticket is off putting. Put you are using service. How do you expect them to make money? Would you rather go to the box office to purchase, not knowing if you’re getting a ticket? I’m all for holding companies responsible but come with solutions (and trust me, I’m no Ticketmaster fan)

[Melissa25]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 3:50am

I think Telechage actually provides customer service not something experienced at Ticketmaster. Wonder what customer service exists at Seat Geek.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 4:03am

If anyone thinks Jujamcyn cares about what fees WE pay, you're nuts. They care about their bottom line.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 9:02am

re fees:

the issue is not that they are paid for their service but that they are overpaid. Remember also that ticket sellers are monopolies as to each venue and thus engaging in monopoly pricing except to the extent that the theatre owner takes steps that are pro-competition. 

While it is certainly true that theatre owners are out to make a buck, it is also true that they are (or need to be) attentive to the customer experience. This is not out of some institutional generosity but rather because it sells tickets. There is plenty of data that when fees are viewed as excessive, some people don't buy the tickets (ironically even when they are buying expensive tickets) and no one on the business side of show business likes that. Likewise, while it is true that the fees are (sometimes) avoidable by going to the box office, that has a negative effect on both the customer experience and also the bottom line. 

So what Jujamcyn is doing is smart on several levels and will have a positive ripple effect out of necessity.

 

[AllThatJazz2]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 9:46am

Melissa25 said: "I thinkTelechage actually provides customer service not something experienced at Ticketmaster. Wonder what customer service exists at Seat Geek."

Agreed - Telecharge has always been very courteous to us customer service wise, and extremely accommodating to us with moving seats, exchanging/refunding tickets, while Ticketmaster has never been a positive experience in that regard. Very curious to see how Seat Geek compares. 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 10:39am

In my experience, Telecharge's customer service is miles ahead of Ticketmaster. Hopefully SeatGeek, being more startup, will be able to keep a standard of theatre knowledge and customer service, especially with Jordan Roth's standards.

[windowwaving]

Posted: 2/3/21 at 11:11am

Ticket fees to me are like resort fees at hotels. If it was included in the ticket price, I would feel much better. It's when a $30 ticket almost doubles because of ticket fees, that's where it bothers me. Let's say a ticket fee average is $20 (I'm sure it's much higher), for a 1,000 seat theater, that's already $20,000 per show. It's even crazier for concerts. From a business perspective, it just doesn't feel like I'm getting that kind of value to warrant the fee.

Also tickets have cost the same for me whether I buy them online or at the theater. I think the only exception has been for lottery.