Former Ticketmaster President & CEO FRED ROSEN is “hoping to reinvent the global ticketing business again,” according to Janet Morrissey of the N.Y. TIMES. Rosen wants to "cut out the middleman -- that is, Ticketmaster -- by putting ticketing back in the hands of arenas, concert halls and clubs." Rosen, who left Ticketmaster 13 years ago, last year “signed on as a partner at a start-up called Outbox Enterprises, which helps venues use their own Web sites to sell tickets, merchandise and services directly.” Pollstar reported Ticketmaster sold 25.1 million tickets to concerts globally last year, “more than double its closest rival,” AEG, which sold 12.5 million. Maxim Group analyst JOHN TINKER said that Ticketmaster “accounts for roughly 70 percent of all tickets sold for American arenas, music clubs and professional sporting events, excluding all-season sports tickets.” Rosen expects Outbox to “generate $1 billion in sales and employ 500 people within three years.” Brokerage firm Miller Tabak & Company media analyst DAVID JOYCE said, “If any start-up has a chance, it would be his. But it’s going to take years.” AEG President & CEO TIM LEIWEKE, whose company formed a joint partnership with Outbox in February, said of Rosen, “When he gets hold of your leg, he’s not going to let go so easily, and you better have a tetanus shot.” Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation allows AEG to use Ticketmaster’s technology for five years, and Outbox gives AEG “a head start.” Rosen said that about 20% of Live Nation’s contracts, which “represent more than 100 venues, come up for renewal annually.” Rosen is “also in talks with phone companies to put mobile ticket purchases on a person’s phone bill, which would make it easier for people to buy tickets using cellphones” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/12).
