Secondary ticketing changes in UK, Europe, as AEG launches AXS ticket resale site
Live entertainment giant AEG has entered the UK – and soon, Europe’s – secondary ticketing market with its own platform.
It allows fans to resell unwanted tickets but only at face value with a maximum 10% admin fee.
It also simplifies the process of transferring the name of the ticket’s first owner to the second.
The tickets will be delivered through a mobile-friendly, identity-based system called Flash Seats.
The new site is called AXS Marketplace and is a division of AEG’s ticketing company AXS.
In England, AEG has pulled two of its busiest London venues, The O2 and Wembley Arena, from its longtime partnership with one of the larger secondary ticket platforms StarHub.
However, the two companies continue to work together in the United States.
Despite the many criticisms and sneaky tactics employed by many secondary ticketing platforms, the base issue is this: every consumer has the right to change tickets if they are no longer usable, and venues and promoters usually don’t offer refunds.
AXS Marketplace will set up next in Sweden where AEG runs five huge venues before expanding to some European countries.
AXS says: “For the first time ever, tickets for sale using AXS, including primary and secondary, will be visible to consumers at the point of purchase in real time.
“It will also eliminate confusion and remove fan anxiety as to whether their ticket is actually valid for entry.”
The new site makes its arrival as pressure grows in Europe and the UK to eradicate scalpers through legal and technological ways.
AEG’s main rival Live Nation already runs secondary ticketing business with a host of resale tickets include Seatwave and Get Me In.
AEG has the brand reputation where it can offer to partner with artists who are opposed to scalpers, similar to how Twickets operates.
Promoters and artists can control the resale, including putting their own cap on resale prices and asking fans to have a ticket on their own phone for identification purposes.
Tom Miserendino, head of AEG Europe, says the new site has been hotly anticipated by the live industry.
“There has been a noticeable shift in the industry recently and more of our artists and promoters want a better solution to ensure fans get an authentic ticket at a fair price.
“Through AXS Marketplace, Flash Seats mobile delivery and capped pricing, we can now deliver this. It is fairer for fans, eliminates counterfeiting, combats touting and allows us to have a complete view of everyone at the event.”