Rockets-Veritix Deal Includes Secondary Tix, Ticketless Entry

Ticketing company Veritix has signed the Rockets and the Toyota Center to a multi-year deal to use its Flash Seats platform for secondary ticketing. The Rockets had used primary ticketing vendor Vertical Alliance before it merged late last year with Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert's Flash Seats to form Veritix. The Rockets are the second pro club to use Flash Seats, behind Gilbert's Cavaliers, and the first to use both secondary and primary ticketing platforms from Veritix (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). In Houston, Jonathan Feigen reports the Rockets as part of the partnership are "offering season-ticket holders the option to use a ticketless system for games," beginning with Game 1 of the Rockets-Jazz series and continuing throughout the playoffs. The Rockets will be the "first team to offer the option to use ticketless entry, similar to airlines' e-tickets, for season-ticket holders' use and resale of their tickets." Customers can register a credit card or Texas driver's license online and "swipe the card or license to gain entry through designated doors at Toyota Center." Fans then are provided a "seat locator card similar to an airline boarding pass" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/18). Veritix CEO Sam Gerace said that the partnership with the Rockets will "be mutually beneficial," as it will "generate revenue for Veritix and Cleveland teams indirectly while allowing the Rockets to harness revenue from after-market ticket sales and shift to paperless ticketing just in time for the playoffs." Gerace added that the deal "should help broaden the appeal of electronic ticketing generally." Gerace: "There's always a watchful adoption period for consumer technology, and this will help make the idea of electronic ticketing mainstream." Gerace said that Veritix is "looking to sell the technology not only across the NBA but also to other sports leagues and concert arenas." Gerace: "We are talking to every league and every live entertainment venue" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 4/18).

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