Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Expands Online Ticketing Business
New Product Suite Will Service Market for Millions of Tickets a Year
From Nightclubs, Local Concert Halls, Museums and Community Centers
PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc. (Nasdaq: TMCS) today announced a new product suite that will expand its online ticketing scope at the local level. Known for its leadership in access to online ticketing for major venues, the Company is rolling out a suite of new online products focused on local and community-level tickets for a wide variety of music, sports and cultural events at smaller venues. The new product suite will allow smaller venues such as nightclubs, museums, comedy clubs, amusement parks and even zoos to self-manage their ticket sales online and give consumers online access to a greater number of events. In a related announcement, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch announced the acquisition of 2b Technology.
"There are three keys to expanding online ticketing in local markets -- an advanced ticketing engine designed for the smaller venues, a knowledgeable, local sales force and the traffic that we bring with our leading local portal and destination for online tickets," commented John Pleasants, President of Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. "Our new initiatives and products will leverage the strength of our trained and motivated citysearch.com sales force who already have relationships with many of the targeted venues for these products. We believe our new product suite greatly expands our addressable market and we are excited to offer our users another way to get things done in their local market online through Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch."
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch's local online ticketing initiative is another step in a series of moves to further position the company as the leading innovator in online ticketing. The new product suite consists of:
-- A Web-based self-service product for smaller venues - developed by
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, this online product will serve a
variety of smaller venues, such as nightclubs, community theater and
comedy clubs and is targeted at venues selling several hundred tickets
a week. The product is currently offered in Portland and Seattle and
will be rolled out nationally by the citysearch.com sales force within
the next six months.
-- A small to medium size venue product - based on Tickemaster
Online-CitySearch's acquisition of 2b Technology, a fully-integrated
visitor management and ticketing company. 2b's VISTA software is
targeted at venues such as higher volume museums, cultural
institutions, historic sites and other attractions. Ticketmaster
Online-CitySearch has acquired 2b's technology along with its more than
300 clients including the British Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, CNN
Studios Atlanta, the Tech Museum of Innovation San Jose, the New
England Aquarium and the Dallas Zoo.
-- A Web-based full-service offering for major venues - as the exclusive
provider of tickets online for Ticketmaster, the leading provider of
tickets for sports, music and family events at major venues,
ticketmaster.com provides tickets for over 90 professional sports
franchises and thousands of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts
venues, and theaters.
-- A comprehensive event database - through relationships such as the
marketing and distribution agreement with CultureFinder.com,
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch offers an event database that gives
consumers one-stop access to information and event ticketing for a
broad range of local cultural events in addition to enhancing
ticketmaster.com's current cultural event offering that includes
Broadway shows, theater, classical music, opera, dance, jazz and
museums.
"Our goal is to be the leading source for tickets on the Web," added Pleasants. "The combination of such innovative tools as the recently announced electronic ticketing service that will allow consumers to print tickets at home, with efforts to expand our product suite with the introduction of a Web-based self service product, and the strategic acquisition of 2b Technology, clearly demonstrates our commitment to rolling out products and services that help our users conveniently and easily get out of their house and access the best that their cities have to offer."
About ticketmaster.com
ticketmaster.com is the world's leading online ticketing site and live event portal. In addition, it is one of the largest ecommerce sites on the Web, selling over $1.5 million in tickets daily. Through its exclusive agreement with Ticketmaster Corporation, ticketmaster.com provides tickets for over 90 professional sports franchises and thousands of leading arenas, stadiums, performing arts venues, and theaters. Media Metrix reported ticketmaster.com was one of the top 20 most visited e-commerce sites during the 1999 holiday season. The site also provides in-context, event-related merchandise, including CDs, apparel, and memorabilia through store.ticketmaster.com and was named the "Best Place to Buy Event Tickets" in the January 2000 issue of Yahoo! Internet Life.
About Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc. (Nasdaq: TMCS) is a leading local portal and transactions company that provides in-depth local content and services to help people "get things done" online. TMCS offers practical tools for living that make the Internet an indispensable part of peoples' everyday lives. The TMCS family of Web sites includes citysearch.com, ticketmaster.com, store.ticketmaster.com, cityauction.com, match.com, oneandonlynetwork.com, sidewalk.com, livedaily.com, astroabby.com, reservations.citysearch.com and jobs.citysearch.com. TMCS is located in Pasadena, Calif.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements about Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc. (the "Company"), including those concerning its future product plans. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from these statements. Among the risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect the Company's actual results are: the limited operating history and early development stage of the Company; the absence of history of Ticketmaster Online as an independent company; the Company's lack of profitability and anticipation of continued losses; the Company's dependence on its relationship with Ticketmaster Corporation; control of the Company by USA Networks, Inc.; the potential for conflicts of interest; the fact that the license agreement between USA Networks, Ticketmaster Corporation and the Company is subject to certain limitations that are contained therein; possible future sales of the Company's securities by USA Networks, Inc.; company integration risks; the Company's dependence on increased ticket sales; the Company's future capital needs and the uncertainty of additional financing; the unpredictability and potential fluctuations in future revenues and operating results. Investors are encouraged to read the risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch is the owner or licensee of its name and logo trademarks and service marks. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch corporate headquarters is located at 790 East Colorado Boulevard - Suite 200, Pasadena, California, 91101; +1-626-405-0050; fax +1-626-405-9929; info@citysearch.com.
SOURCE Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc.
CO: Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc.
ST: California
IN: MLM ENT
SU: PDT
02/02/2000 06:30 EST prnewswire.com |
