More Tix For Less

Las Vegas company Tix Corp. is acquiring Exhibit Merchandising, a company owned by producers Joe Marsh and Lee Marshall. In the process, there might be more discount tickets sold in major markets.

The non sequitur is actually no big leap, according to Marsh. As a consultant for Tix, he plans to expand the brand in markets far away from Glitter Gulch.

Under the banner of Magic Arts & Entertainment, Marsh and Marshall have produced The Magic of David Copperfield, Lord of the Dance, Fleetwood Mac’s reunion tour and a host of other musical and performance events. While producing exhibition tours like the Titanic, King Tut, Princess Diana and "Bodies," Marsh and Marshall created Exhibit Merchandising.

"Path two, we’re involved with a ticketing company in Las Vegas similar to [the TKTS] half-price booth in New York," Marsh told Pollstar. "But we have four booths, for-profit. The company handles 60 shows, half-priced entrees, discount golf and premium ticket programs."

A publicly traded company needs to be multidimensional, Marsh said, and that means expanding the ticketing company, and the merch sales, into other markets. That means discount booths for big events coast to coast.

"It’s a good growth story in this business, like when Bob Sillerman bought our company in 1998."

Expect Tix to be rolling out in other major markets in the next two years, Marsh said. He mentioned Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Atlanta as potentials.

The Tix booths in Las Vegas open up at 10 a.m., with a line of people ready to snag cheap ducats for most shows outside of ones like Celine Dion’s sold-out gig, Marsh said. The obvious question is if Tix would be used for concert venues, such as House of Blues clubs.

"House of Blues is owned by Live Nation and they sell tickets retail," Marsh replied. "They don’t know how to sell tickets at a discount. That’s not what they do. If they did, they’d do it in Vegas, just like us. We know how to sell tickets that they can’t sell."