Stuart WoodTicketCo Co-founder Carl-Erik Moberg weighs in on the future of ticketing, and Viagogo’s troubles.
The event and ticketing industries are facing their biggest challenge in living memory. Companies are reeling amid the Covid-19 lockdown, and revenues are drying up. Already we are witnessing the signs of change.
News recently emerged that the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an investigation into Viagogo’s £3.2bn purchase of ticket resale website Stubhub. It comes amid online rumours that Stubhub’s future was under threat, after it asked the US government for financial support. Ticket resellers have attracted criticism in the past for enabling tickets to be sold for high mark-ups.
It remains to be seen what impact the actions of these two major players in the sector will have on the industry and what the wider implications of Covid-19 will be. Unfortunately, it is likely that some event organisers and ticketing suppliers will not survive the crisis.
The ability to innovate and adapt is vital to surviving in the short term, and flourishing in the medium to long term. It is often start-ups, scale-ups and tech firms that are the most nimble and able to adjust to the market the quickest.
Innovation and creativity are what makes the events industry such a wonderful sector. And it is innovation and creativity that is required now to adapt, survive and thrive. You need to be able to react if something unforeseen happens.