Lots of people today already use eBay and its ticketing site StubHub for ticket event purchases and trades; today eBay extended and further formalized that role, with a new global partnership with AEG, the sports and entertainment venue giant, to provide ticketing, merchandise sales, and sponsorship for AEG events across eBay and its StubHub and PayPal subsidiaries. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed but we are asking and will update as we learn more.
The companies are describing the deal as a multi-year, multi-platform partnership. It will help eBay continue to raise its profile as a payment platform and further associate it in people’s minds with entertainment services outside of its core, original business of online auctions as the company continues to try to diversify itself.
“Technology is revolutionizing commerce, and eBay Inc. is working with leading companies around the world to use our platforms to bring innovative new experiences to consumers,” said Devin Wenig, president of eBay marketplaces, in a statement. “Integrating our technology platforms with AEG is a natural fit for eBay Inc., and allows our companies to give fans nearly unprecedented access to the events, performers and athletes they love.”
The companies say the partnership will kick off in Q1 2013 with a StubHub integration: the eBay division will be the exclusive secondary ticketing partner for AEG venues and AEG’s own online ticket sales service AXS Ticketing. This will be done by way of special barcodes on the tickets that will let people pass tickets back to StubHub for resale and also to let users transfer them from one person to another without risk of fraud or duplication. For now there doesn’t appear to be a device partner of any kind announced in connection with this but you can easily see how this might work, for example, with Apple’s Passbook.
At the same time, StubHub is taking on a sponsorship role at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, as well as the LA Kings (NHL) and the LA Galaxy (which are partly owned by AEG), by becoming the secondary ticketing partner for all three. Ebay and AEG say that European venues will be added to the list as part of StubHub’s strategy to pick up more traction outside the U.S.
PayPal, meanwhile, is getting added as an official payment method for AXS Ticketing in the U.S. and UK. And AEG’s merchandising company, BandMerch, will start selling its products — covering some 135 music acts — on eBay. The companies say more integrations will be announced in due course.
While this deal is a good move for eBay in its attempt to raise its game outside outside of ecommerce and auctions; it’s also an interesting sign of AEG trying to flex more of its tech muscle, and try to develop revenue streams outside of its very brick-and-mortar based business of live events. Merchandizing and ticketing are the two most obvious areas for the company to expand online, although you can imagine AEG also making further moves into live streaming or selling downloads of the events themselves as well — services that it only seems to provide as a B2B option at the moment.
AEG, of course, has partnered with a number of other tech brands mainly in the form of venue sponships, from the Nokia Center in LA to the O2 venues in London. The latter sees O2 also offering perks to mobile subscribers to visit the venues, such as early ticket purchases.
eBay Inc. and AEG Announce Industry-Leading Global Partnership Across Multiple Platforms
eBay Companies, Including StubHub & PayPal, to Align with AEG Platforms;
Through Official Partnership with AEG’s AXS Ticketing, StubHub to Become
Official Fan-to-Fan Ticket Marketplace for AEG Venues Worldwide,
LA Kings, LA Galaxy Sports Franchises and Other PropertiesSAN JOSE and LOS ANGELES (November 12, 2012) – eBay Inc. and AEG announced that they have signed an unprecedented global partnership to facilitate multiple venue sponsorships and technology integrations, designed to create a constantly evolving showcase of world-class digital technologies for the live event experience for fans across the world. A variety of eBay companies and initiatives will be included in elements of the multi-year partnership.
Beginning Q1 2013, StubHub will become the exclusive secondary ticketing solution for AEG venues and AXS Ticketing, the innovative ticketing platform launched by AEG in 2011. StubHub will also serve as the Official Secondary Partner of STAPLES Center, the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings (NHL) and the LA Galaxy starting with the 2013-14 seasons for each franchise. Globally, the deal will look to integrate with a number of major venues across Europe as StubHub continues to expand internationally. Global commerce leader, PayPal, will become one of AXS Ticketing’s new methods of payment, providing to their fans in the United States and United Kingdom access to tens of thousands of events on any given day. AEG’s industry leading music merchandise company, BandMerch, will also begin to extend its rosters of over 135 artists to the eBay Marketplace. As the multi-year partnership continues, further integrations will take place between eBay Inc.’s portfolio of businesses and AEG’s collection of assets, which includes more than 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities.
“Technology is revolutionizing commerce, and eBay Inc. is working with leading companies around the world to use our platforms to bring innovative new experiences to consumers,” said Devin Wenig, president of eBay marketplaces. “Integrating our technology platforms with AEG is a natural fit for eBay Inc., and allows our companies to give fans nearly unprecedented access to the events, performers and athletes they love.”
”eBay is one of the most complete and well-rounded ecommerce and technology companies in the world and pairing our combined capabilities and global reach is an exciting opportunity” said Tim Leiweke, president and CEO, AEG. “This partnership will help bring even deeper digital resources and online marketing reach to the AXS Ticketing platform and will allow us to continue to transform the live event fan experience.”
As the exclusive secondary ticketing partner for AEG’s ticketing platform AXS Ticketing, StubHub will provide a barcode cancel/re-issue solution for the seamless transfer of tickets between buyers and sellers. Additionally, StubHub will become the Official Fan-to-Fan Ticket Marketplace for more than 30 AEG facilities worldwide, including such iconic venues as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston), The Warfield (San Francisco), Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Best Buy Theater (Times Square), as well as additional AEG venues throughout the world, which will be announced at a future date.
With activation beginning in January 2013, StubHub will be designated as one of 11 “Founding Partners” of STAPLES Center, receiving a variety of customized signage and activation components including prominent interior and outdoor marquee signage, in- game/event branding elements and enhanced online presence. It will also create the ability to offer StubHub Fan Rewards members with opportunities to experience the venue in a whole new way – with seat upgrades, behind-the-scenes tours and access to exclusive VIP hospitality opportunities such as STAPLES Center’s Hyde Lounge and Lexus Club. The agreement also provides StubHub with additional marketing assets at L.A. LIVE as well as opportunities with the LA Kings.
AEG’s industry leading music merchandise company, BandMerch, will begin to extend its online storefronts to the eBay marketplace, bringing seamless payment options and integrated access to eBay’s tens of millions of customers to its roster of 135 world-class bands and performers.
The companies will collectively explore additional, future opportunities for innovative solutions to better serve fans for their entertainment needs.
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is a global commerce platform and payments leader connecting millions of buyers and sellers. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive digital payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities
of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.comAbout AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China),
MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), Ericsson Globe arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World arena (Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England) which are all part of the portfolio of AEG Facilities. Developed by AEG, L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination along with entertainment, restaurant and office space that “officially” opened in 2010. In addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), assets of AEG Sports include franchises and properties such as the Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings (NHL), MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy two hockey franchises in Europe, the Amgen Tour of California cycling race and Zazzle Bay to Breakers foot race. AEG Live, the company’s live-entertainment division, is the world’s second largest concert promotion and touring company and is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions with fifteen regional offices. AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships and AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company are also core business units of AEG. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry’s first sustainability report while in 2011, AEG introduced axs Ticketing, the first phase of its new entertainment platform serving as the company’s primary consumer brand which will also feature a mobile service as well as a video content service now in development. For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.