Northern Ireland in favour of COVID-19 vaccine passports

Ministers in Northern Ireland have voted in favour of COVID-19 vaccine passports, which will be introduced at the end of November and enforced from mid-December.  The scheme means that before entry is allowed in nightclubs or hospitality venues, proof of vaccination through a passport or proof of a negative COVID test will be required. Punters …

Spain backs down on touring visas for UK musicians

Artists touring Spain will no longer require visas for short-term work, after the UK’s exit from the European Union has caused issues for musicians touring within Europe.  Music organisations LIVE and The Association of British Orchestras worked alongside Spanish counterparts Asociación Promotores Musicales to flip the rules, and allow musicians and crew to tour the …

People: Ticketmaster Sport, Tix Ticketing and more…

We round up the latest movements from the ticketing sector and associated industries… Tix Ticketing, based in Reykjavik in Iceland, has recently made a change at the top with Arnar Ólafsson (pictured right) coming in as the creative director.  Ólafsson has previous experience with design work for companies such as social media giant Facebook, gaming company CCP …

LA’s Staples Center renamed Crypto.com Arena in $700m deal

Los Angeles’ famous Staples Center has been renamed Crypto.com Arena through a new 20-year naming rights deal. The long-term agreement between venue owner AEG and the Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform is reportedly worth $700m. Crypto.com becomes the official cryptocurrency platform partner of the venue’s tenants, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and NH’s LA Kings. The 20,000-seat …

Scandinavian design and the modernisation of the box office

Tix Ticketing announced one of its most prestigious partnerships to date when it went live with Dutch concert venue Het Concertgebouw recently. The cloud-based ticketing services provider, founded in Iceland in 2014, is expanding rapidly across Europe and has ambitious plans for its own growth and the possibilities for the box office of the future. …

Connect&Go raises further $3m in funding

Attractions management solutions company, Connect&Go, has secured an additional $3m (£2.2m/€2.6m) in financing, and has also launched Connect Express, a mobile point-of-sale and payments offering.  The Montreal-based business has now raised a total of $16m since the company’s initial launch.  Dominic Gagnon, co-founder and chief executive of Connect&Go, said: “The attractions technology solutions market is …

Record Third Quarter for Vivid Seats

Ticketing marketplace Vivid Seats has announced a successful third quarter, after posting revenues of $139.5m (£104m/€123m), up from just $7.1m during the same period in 2020.  Revenue for the three months leading up to September 30 came in at $139.5m, as events returned following the COVID-19 pandemic and consumers having more confidence in purchasing tickets …