here's the article:
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Announces Sharp Increase in Online Ticket Sales
Online Ticket Sales Valued at Nearly $60,000,000 for the First Quarter of 1999
Approximately 275% Increase Over Same Period in 1998
PASADENA, Calif., April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (Nasdaq: TMCS) has reported a dramatic increase in online ticket sales for the first quarter of 1999. Consumers within the United States, United Kingdom and Canada purchased more than 1.6 million tickets online to a wide variety of arts, concerts, family entertainment, sports, and other events through its Web site, Ticketmaster.com. This represents an increase of nearly 275% over the number of tickets sold online during the same period of 1998. The quarter's online ticket sales had a total value of nearly $60 million.
During the month of March 1999, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch accounted for nearly 10% of Ticketmaster Corporation's total ticket sales, which also distributes tickets through retail outlet locations and by phone, an increase from 6% in the fourth quarter of 1998 and well ahead of expectations. Additionally, the ABC Interactive's audit reports that Ticketmaster Online had 5.8 million visits in March 1999, accounting for more than 54 million page views.
Increases in sales occurred across all event demographics including a precedent-setting 25% of all Chicago Cubs' 1999 first day single game ticket sales. In addition, online sales accounted for more than 12% of all the Dave Matthews Band tour tickets sold nationwide. The rock music group, The Cranberries, have recently announced that all concert tickets for their upcoming tour are being sold exclusively online through Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch.
Through its exclusive ticketing agreement with Ticketmaster Corporation, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch enjoys exclusive online ticketing to more than 3,750 clients, 100 major league sports teams, and 150,000 events annually.
According to Mike Ferrel, President and Chief Executive Officer of SFX Entertainment (Nasdaq: SFXE), the leading, promoter, producer and venue operator for live entertainment events in the United States, "The long-term agreement that we recently signed with Ticketmaster provides for the increased traffic of online ticketing. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch has proven to be a valuable resource in facilitating online ticket sales and is well-equipped to process the explosive growth of online ticketing and to serve our customers with the ultimate convenience in purchasing tickets."
"Consumers are responding to the convenience of finding event information and purchasing tickets online. We are pleased that our online sales partnerships with Ticketmaster Corporation, major venues, sporting teams, acts and promoters are having such an impact," said Charles Conn, Chief Executive Officer of Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. "We've been investing heavily to more than double our capacity in the past six months, and we will soon launch a major site redesign that will make ticket purchasing even easier."
Online ticket sales are expected to continue to grow, due in part to the increasing number of new-style local portal CitySearch sites, such as Denver CitySearch (denver.citysearch.com). Denver CitySearch leads the CitySearch network in percentage of consumers visiting the Ticketmaster Online Web site because it integrates rich local "where to go, what to do" content with ticketing and other transactions. As the first in a series of new-style city guides, Denver CitySearch provides all the information consumers need to make event-planning decisions. This superior design is being used for each new city guide that Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch launches, and will be integrated into existing market sites over the next few weeks.
The site also links to the personalized service, MyTicketmaster, (my.ticketmaster.com) which allows users to select seating options from the best seats available, view full 360 degrees sight lines and take a virtual reality tour of many venues before completing their ticket purchase. In addition to its ticketing capabilities, the local portal city guides offer complementary local e-commerce capabilities such as CitySearch Commerce, which allows merchants to offer customers the ability to order flowers from a florist or make restaurant reservations online.
About Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch (Nasdaq: TMCS) is an award-winning provider of locally-developed online information and transaction services relevant to people's everyday lives. CitySearch (www.citysearch.com) develops city guides that provide rich local information on arts and entertainment, recreation, shopping and community, and integrate transactions to help people get things done. Ticketmaster Online (www.ticketmaster.com) provides online ticketing through an exclusive agreement with Ticketmaster Corporation, the leading provider and distributor of event tickets, selling approximately 75 million tickets representing gross receipts in excess of 2.5 billion dollars, for more than 150,000 events in 3,750 clients. CityAuction (www.cityauction.com) is a person-to-person online auction site that provides a time-saving way to buy and sell items in local and global marketplaces. These services provide a local portal that allows people to perform everyday activities online, from shopping to scheduling an evening out, to planning volunteer work. Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch is headquartered in Pasadena, California.
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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form S-1
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.
For More Information:
Nancy Scott Lyon, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, +1-626-660-2530; nancy_lyon@citysearch.com or Sara Strickland, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, +1-626-660-2758; sara@citysearch.com.
Visit Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch on the World Wide Web at citysearch.com, ticketmaster.com, cityauction.com. 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
CO: Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch
ST: California
IN: MLM REA
SU:
04/14/99 09:30 EDT prnewswire.com
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