 |
MLBAM Acquires Tickets.com
For Approximately $66M |
MLBAM has entered into an agreement to acquire Tickets.com. MLBAM, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, will offer $1.10 for all outstanding shares of Tickets.com. News of the deal was first reported by sister publication SportsBusiness Journal (THE DAILY). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Nick Wingfield cites sources as estimating the value of the deal at $66M. Investors “holding 82% of Tickets.com’s shares have committed to selling their stock” to MLBAM. Wingfield notes “roughly a quarter of Tickets.com’s $70[M] in annual revenue is from the online sale of baseball tickets,” as the company “has exclusive relationships with nearly a dozen baseball teams to sell game tickets online and through team box offices.” A source said that the company represents about 40% of MLB’s ticket sales, with another 40% sold by Ticketmaster and about 20% sold by Paciolan. Sources indicated that MLB “intends to use Tickets.com to create forms of electronic ticket purchasing that aren’t widely done today,” including cell phones (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/15).
