Original article published on The Wall Street Journal (09/14/18) by Anne Steele

Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) has made ticketing subsidiary AXS its preferred resale site, replacing StubHub as the official ticket reseller for its venues. The new arrangement implements AXS's digital ticket technology across 30 of AEG's sports franchises and venues, including the Los Angeles Staples Center. AEG says its new ticket-resale technology will provide more convenience and give performers, teams, and venues more control over how and for what price their tickets are sold and resold. In order to track tickets, AXS says it will now link every ticket sold to the buyer's identity. Each customer will have their own AXS account through which tickets can be bought, sold, or transferred to other customers. That means that venues, teams and musicians can know more about who is coming to events. "This lets you go from knowing a third of the people in the building to potentially everybody in the building regardless of if they bought it on primary or on resale," says AXS Chief Executive Bryan Perez. Delivering tickets via mobile also creates a communication channel through which an event owner can show fans their seat location or offer a coupon to a food vendor, for example. AEG CEO Dan Beckerman said the deal "not only gives fans the streamlined mobile experience they want, but also provides us with an important tool to tailor offers and personalize experiences while at our venues."

Read the full story on The Wall Street Journal website.