Christopher BarrettFestival giant Superstruct Entertainment has appointed ticket resale marketplace Tixel as its exclusive secondary ticketing partner for its UK festivals Bluedot (Cap. 21,000), Boardmasters (50,000), Kendal Calling (25,000), NASS (15,000), Truck (10,000), Tramlines (40,000), Y Not Festival (40,000) and Christmas at Bute Park.
Tixel said the partnership includes direct technology integrations that will facilitate functions including real-time ticket validation on all tickets listed, and the ability for a buyer to list and sell a ticket before ticket barcodes have been distributed.
A burgeoning international festival promoting powerhouse, Providence Equity-owned Superstruct Entertainment operates more than 80 festivals worldwide, making it second only in size to Live Nation. It is headed by CEO Roderik Schlosser and chairman James Barton, who founded UK club and festival brands Cream and the Creamfields festival (cap. 70,000).
Tixel launched operations in the UK in September 2021. Its clients include indie 2,000trees Festival, rock festival ArcTanGent (ATG), Cosmopop’s Croatian festival Sonus and Amsterdam EDM events company Dekmantel and its roster of events including Dekmantel Festival, Dekmantel Selectors and Lente Kabinet,
Tixel CEO Zac Leigh said, “Superstruct UK is a force in live entertainment and the calibre of festivals and live music events the team oversees is impressive. Being in service of so many UK festival-goers is a responsibility we don’t take lightly and we’re honoured to provide a safe, fair and easy place for fan-to-fan ticket trading to take place this summer.”
Tixel released research in 2022 that found event goers were more likely to purchase a ticket knowing they can easily resell it later. Some 70% of respondents said they had changed their purchase behaviour since Covid, and those choosing inflexibility in their ticketing strategy could be missing out on sales.
Leigh added, “Today’s ticket buyer is different to who they were three years ago. We’re much more used to digital and in-app purchasing and around 80% of us say that we’re more likely to buy a ticket if we know that we can easily resell it later. We love that our festival partners are embracing the new behaviours of today’s festival-goers in an effort to super-serve their attendees, and we’re excited to help them do that.”