European cinema sees strong growth as audiences return

European cinema saw box office takings rise by more than 50% last year, with over 800 million visits across the region. Data collated by the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the trade association representing cinema operators and their national associations across 39 European territories, found that box office reached €5.7bn during 2022-23, an increase of …

Music Venues Trust celebrates ASM Global backing

Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) campaign to assist the UK’s grassroots music industry has been given a significant boost after ASM Global became the first major arena operator to back its work. The charity, which represents and seeks to protect almost 1,000 grassroots music venues (GMVs), will benefit from donations, training and marketing support, with programmes …

Opinion: An oversupply of concerts and the pricing of tickets

Tim Chambers, a mentor, advisor and consultant within the international ticketing and live entertainment sectors, assesses the current state of the market and argues that post-pandemic, not every event can sell-out…   Tim Chambers Despite bullish quarterly statements from various international congloms, the post-pandemic recovery of the live music industry has been a varied experience for …

SeatGeek drives home PGA of America deal

SeatGeek has replaced AXS as the official ticketing supplier of the PGA of America’s top golf events. The exclusive six-year deal covers the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship, and Women’s PGA Championship, as well as the 2025 Ryder Cup. The partnership has kicked off immediately with ticket sales starting for 2024 PGA Championship pre-registrants. General …

Aviva secures naming rights for Factory International venue

Insurance provider Aviva has signed up as the naming-rights partner of the new Factory International arts and culture venue in Manchester, UK. Terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed, but the Guardian reported that the multi-year deal is worth £35m. The facility, which will host a Yayoi Kusama exhibition as part of this …

TM counts on registration to avoid repeat of Swift tour sales debacle

Ticketmaster is urging fans of Taylor Swift to register their interest in tickets before they go on sale for the US singer’s newly scheduled international tour dates in an effort to avoid a repeat of the problems that scuppered initial sales on The Eras Tour. The 12-time Grammy winner has announced 50 new international destinations …

Entrio expands into Bosnia and Herzegovina

Croatian ticketing operator Entrio has expanded its operations in Eastern Europe by establishing a new platform for the market in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Entrio, which is based in Zagreb and also operates in Slovenia, has launched a franchise platform, Entrio.ba, in partnership with advertising sales company Imagis Doo. Since it was established in 2011, Entrio …

People on the move: DICE, National Theatre and more…

We round up the latest movements from the ticketing sector and associated industries… Vastly experienced music industry executive Caron Veazey has joined the board of directors at DICE. In addition to working alongside the artist development, content, and leadership teams, Veazey will also utilise her leadership experience in diversity, equity and inclusion spaces. Veazey is the founder of …

Tech Stack: Brentford FC, HUMBL and more

Our weekly tech round-up from the world of ticketing and associated industries… HUMBL’s AI chatbot HUMBL, which operates the HUMBL Tickets platform, has launched its new HeyBLUE! artificial intelligence chatbot. HUMBL users can now perform a variety of tasks, including chatbot interactions, document generation, text generation, text summarisation, language translation, question answering and more. Brentford …

Accesso acquires theme park ticketing leader VGS

Accesso Technology Group has acquired VGS, the ticketing and visitor management system provider whose clients include some of the world’s biggest theme parks. Following the deal, VGS’s SnApp platform will be rebranded as Accesso Horizon and operate as part of the Accesso product set. VGS’ global team, who are based in offices in Milan, Dubai, …