Ticketing Tech Company Experience Shutting Down

Atlanta-based ticketing inventory and technology company Experience will formally close shop by the end of 2020.

Experience spokeswoman Kelly Buday wrote in an email, “Over the years, Experience has made significant progress in transforming the way fans attend live events, but the challenges created by COVID-19 have forced us to cease business operations by the end of the year.”

Experience CEO Junior Gaspard declined to disclose how many employees this impacts, but did say the company is hoping to keep its tech alive in some form.

At the time of Experience’s 2014 $200 million sale to Cox Enterprises, the company claimed to have more than 170 individual pro and collegiate sports teams, its partners including LiveNation, Ticketmaster, the Braves, Magic, Falcons, Cowboys and Univ. of Alabama. It was unclear if Cox made an attempt to sell Experience before ceasing operations.

In 2016, Experience won the “best mobile fan experience” category at SBJ’s Sports Business Awards.

Experience’s impending shutdown comes as ticketing companies like StubHub and Ticketmaster have laid off or furloughed hundreds of workers because of the pandemic.

“They were a very interesting company, well respected and well regarded, they took over many teams’ upgrade process and gave them (teams) a way to gain incremental revenue,” Eventellect co-Founder Patrick Ryan said of Experience.

Experience’s college business, which offers discounted tickets to students with an .edu email address was another way they worked with their NCAA clients in an innovative way to discreetly fill their stands, Ryan said.

Ryan estimated that half of American pro teams used Experience and almost all had at one point had used or inquired about the company’s services. They were also embedded in many of their clients’ teams apps and integrated with Ticketmaster and other ticketing companies, Ryan said.

But some teams thought Experience contributed to “price decay” for tickets and was expensive with a 30% take rate on every sale, Ryan added.

Ryan said he was surprised that Experience’s owner Cox Enterprise did not sell the business. “I guess they (Cox) didn’t want to keep putting more money into the business?,” Ryan said. “I wonder who’s going to sell these upgrades and experiences now?”