Paciolan President Kim Damron plunged into researching the secondary ticketing world during the past year and a half as she considered which company might be the best partner for the company’s ticketing clients in advance of a long-term deal with StubHub expiring. StubHub had been Paciolan’s preferred resale outlet for the past 12 years, but Damron and Paciolan made a change this week, opting for SeatGeek as its new official secondary marketplace.
This was a big decision for Damron and her team, given Paciolan’s dominance of the college sports ticketing market. The company handles ticketing for 160 colleges and universities, including 80% of the Power Five conference schools, and at least 20 of the top college programs. It’s an equally big deal for SeatGeek as it moves into the voluminous college sports resale market. Paciolan sold more than 120 million tickets last year; undoubtedly a significant part of those ended up on the secondary market.
“Across the resale market, college sports is really growing, a fast-growing dynamic space, particularly on the college football side, and we’re super excited to be able to participate in it and help it grow,” said SeatGeek co-founder Russell D’Souza.
During her research, Damron, who was also recently named president of digital and technology for Paciolan’s parent company Learfield, said she was most impressed by SeatGeek’s customer service; its net promoter score — highest among the secondary ticketing marketplaces; its technology; resonance with college-age Gen Z and Gen Alpha customers; and growth trajectory in recent years.
A source with knowledge of the deal indicated that StubHub and Paciolan mutually decided not to move forward as official partners. Neither SeatGeek nor Paciolan shared terms of the new deal, but Damron is banking on another long-term deal like the one just wrapped up.
“We are very neurotic, very selective on who we partner with,” she said. “This has been my life the last 18 months.”
Paciolan’s secondary ticketing marketplace opportunity in college sports mirrors another important partnership that’s currently up for grabs, Major League Baseball’s, after its deal with StubHub lapsed at the end of 2022.
While college sports doesn’t have an official primary ticket provider, Paciolan could almost claim the title. The company has broken ticket sales records each of the past two years, Damron said, and in the past year, it landed 12 new school clients and renewed 30. In total, Paciolan tickets more than 500 venues, including its robust college business but also performing arts (Fox Theatre Atlanta) and arenas. Those partners will be able to take advantage of the SeatGeek link-up, too.
Partnering with a market leader is a different tack for SeatGeek, which recently has driven substantial growth primarily by striking enterprise ticketing deals directly with individual pro sports and entertainment properties and venues in specific geographic locations. On the surface, the Paciolan tie-up is different but could have similar results to those SeatGeek has gotten from its enterprise strategy, and in smaller college towns without pro teams that the company might not have pursued, such as Ann Arbor, Mich.; Tuscaloosa, Ala.; or Chapel Hill, N.C. SeatGeek’s college presence previously was limited to a couple of bowl game deals.
The deal will launch July 1, the time when many college football single-game ticket sales commence for the upcoming season. In the meantime, SeatGeek will integrate its platform with Paciolan and its school clients, enabling fans to resell their tickets through SeatGeek with a single button tap on their phone.
“College fans are the largest set of fans in the country and the most affluent,” said Damron. “We’re definitely capitalizing on that with this partnership.”
