July 15, 2010 15:00 ET

Ticket Industry Report Unveiled at Ticket Summit Conference

Professors Joris Drayer and Stephen Shapiro Launch Study on the Secondary Ticket Market

VERNON, CT--(Marketwire - July 15, 2010) -  Ticket Summit, the leading international ticket conference, today hosted a press conference led by professors Joris Drayer (University of Memphis) and Stephen Shapiro (Old Dominion University) who announced the findings of their report Understanding Ticket Brokers. This report analyzes ticket broker demographics, sell-and-purchase strategies, and other dynamics of the secondary ticket market. For the study, two hundred sixty-one ticket brokers were surveyed across the U.S. based in metropolitan cities in addition to smaller regional markets.

Key findings in the report include:

• Education Level: Respondents were highly educated, with over 63% representing college graduates, and an additional 27% attended some college.
• Range of Age Groups: Respondents were quite diverse in terms of age and number of years of experience. This would seem to indicate that the secondary ticket market is alive and thriving as existing brokers are able to sustain successful businesses, while new brokers enter the industry.
• Online vs. Face-to-Face Sales: Over 76% of respondents conducted over 60% of their business online. Additionally, 71% of new brokers (5 years or less) conduct 81% or more of their business online. These figures illuminate the changing shape of the secondary market and the influence emerging technology has on the industry.

"These and other findings of this study point to the fact that the demographic profiles of business owners operating in the secondary ticket market are in fact quite counterintuitive to the common images portrayed in biased media sources, the most common that being of a 'peddler' operating transactions outside venues," said Dr. Molly A. Martinez, Executive Director, Ticket Summit. "The large presence of new brokers is not only indicative of the strength of the industry, but also of consumer confidence in the secondary market, a feat that has been largely achieved by the aid of online technology," added Martinez.

About Ticket Summit
Ticket Summit is the world's leading ticket conference and trade show for live entertainment professionals. This event attracts hundreds of global business leaders, entrepreneurs, and entertainment experts in the ticket community. Past attendees and sponsors include: Billboard, Blue Man Group, Broadway.com, eBay, Forbes, Google, Live Nation, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, PowerPay, StubHub, Ticketmaster, and Yahoo!, among others. The upcoming Ticket Summit conference and trade show is scheduled for January 12-14, 2011 at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York, NY. For information, visit www.TicketSummit.org