Ticketmaster holds NFL secondary deal, but with tweaks

Ticketmaster will retain its position as the NFL’s top ticket reselling partner in a deal approved by owners Wednesday, but other companies the NFL hopes to sign at a lower tier will have an enhanced role as the league takes its “open distribution” strategy to another level.

Under the new model, which will be built out in the offseason, Ticketmaster will be the league’s only “platinum” level secondary ticketing partner and “power” the league’s ticket exchange, but any other NFL-authorized secondary marketplace will have full access to all 32 teams’ season-ticket holder resale inventory. Under the current arrangement, that full team inventory is only available on Ticketmaster, though limited tickets can be bought on many sites.

Sources said SeatGeek, which had bid against Ticketmaster for the top slot, has agreed in principle to a deal in the last few hours to join the new model at a “gold” tier.

“The inventory will get broadcast out across the entire network, making it easier for season ticket holders to get wider distribution, bigger reach,” NFL SVP/Club Business Development Bobby Gallo said. “This adds greater liquidity for their season tickets, which we’re really excited about. And it’s also better for the fans because you’re gaining access to more of this inventory across more sites.”

The deal is for secondary sales only, and does not affect the league’s primary ticketing business for the handful of games run by at the league level, such as the Super Bowl and most international games.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Gallo said the new package of deals will substantially increase the fee revenue to the league compared to the expiring deal. “We’ve created more value through less exclusivity,” he said. The new deal will be longer than the expiring four-year pact, but Gallo declined to say its precise term.

At times in recent months, NFL and team business insiders believed SeatGeek would outbid Ticketmaster for the “platinum” slot. Gallo would not confirm details of the negotiations, but said: “The process has been very, very, very competitive, which to me, again, further justifies the model we’ve landed on.”

Currently, along with Ticketmaster and SeatGeek, the NFL has Sports Illustrated Tickets and Tixr as licensed channels.

The outcome of this deal had been closely watched by some teams, because teams cannot strike their own primary ticketing deals with a company that is not, to one degree or another, part of the league-level system. Ticketmaster has 26 teams, while SeatGeek has six — though SeatGeek reportedly has several deals lined up with new teams that were depending on league action to proceed. Had either Ticketmaster or SeatGeek decided that it would stay out of the program altogether, it could have caused a scramble by teams to adjust.

In addition to being technically complicated, ticketing is among the most politically fraught deals to strike for NFL executives. It’s the second largest sponsorship category for teams, and both Ticketmaster and SeatGeek have deep relationships with owners and executives. Before the NFL meetings started on Tuesday, SeatGeek co-founder & President of Supply Russ D’Souza was seen conferring with one of his key strategic investors, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, along with Jerry Jones Jr. and Cowboys General Counsel Jason Cohen.