Looking to broaden their respective reaches, Groupon and Live Nation have huddled close in some small, dark corner of the internet to spawn GrouponLive, a new “online ticketing deals marketplace”.
There’s no real meat to the press release in terms of what kind of deals we can expect to see out of the pairing, but I see it as your typical good versus evil struggle: Will Groupon’s friendly 50 per cent discounts mean you’re seeing Rod Stewart on the cheap? Or will Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster’s notorious price gouging bring Groupon over to the dark side?
Honestly, it probably doesn’t matter; the scalpers are going to get the best seats every time, either way.
Groupon and Live Nation Entertainment Form Joint Venture to Launch New Online Ticketing Deals Marketplace
CHICAGO and LOS ANGELES – May 9, 2011 – Groupon and Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) today announced that they have a formed a joint venture to develop a new online ticketing deals channel, GrouponLive.
GrouponLive will serve as a local resource for Live Nation events and clients of its global ticketing business, Ticketmaster. The site will be a groundbreaking resource for consumers to find high-value tickets to concerts, sports, theatre, arts and other live events, while serving as a timely and effective way for merchants to sell more tickets. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Launch is planned in time for the summer concert season.
“With unprecedented access to Live Nation’s expansive roster of performers and events, GrouponLive will be the destination for exclusive live event deals,” said Andrew Mason, founder and CEO, Groupon. “We’re excited to work with Live Nation to further deliver on our commitment to offer amazing local experiences to our subscribers.”
“GrouponLive represents a new channel to drive value for fans, while helping artists and others to reach ever larger audiences,” said Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation Entertainment. “By adding this channel to our ticketing platform, we will also provide our venue partners with another option for driving ticket sales across a wide range of events. Our success is based on selling tickets and filling seats and GrouponLive gives us another platform to achieve this.”
Both Groupon and Live Nation would like to thank Guy Oseary who advised on the deal and was instrumental in helping develop the partnership. Mr. Oseary is on Groupon’s Advisory Board, and has worked with Live Nation through his role as artist manager and event promoter.
Users of GrouponLive will have access to limited-time deals on a variety of events across North America. The site will update offers as new events become available. To be notified when GrouponLive launches, visit www.grouponlive.com.