Original article published on Recode (05/04/18) by Jason Del Rey
Former Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard has raised more than $30 million in venture capital over the last year and a half to support Rival, a startup whose goal is to modernize management of ticket sales, customer relationships and security by teams and arenas. Rival's short-term survival will depend on striking deals for ticket inventory with teams and venues that currently enjoy exclusive relationships with both dominant and upstart vendors. Major Silicon Valley figures as well as Andreessen Horowitz and Upfront Ventures are investing in Rival, as are teams from each major U.S. sports league and soccer's English Premier league. “[Teams and venue owners'] two biggest concerns right now are how do I better monetize my fans and how do I keep them safer,” Hubbard notes. Rival's solution is to have the teams identify the ticket user, and the company's clients first use its software to generate tickets and then distribute them for sale — whether through the team or venue's own online properties or via potential integrations with sites such as StubHub, Ticketmaster or possibly Amazon. Rival's software keeps track of ticket holders by offering teams the option of requiring that certain customers purchase tickets digitally and upload a photo of themselves to complete the sale. Upon arrival at the venue, cameras will capture images of the holder to confirm their identity.
Read the full story on the Recode website.