Ticketmaster Deploys SmartEvent Technology Tools For COVID-Safe Gatherings

– SmartEvent

Ticketmaster has unveiled a new suite of technology tools, dubbed SmartEvent, to help live event organizers around the world return to the business of hosting large gatherings safely.

The tools include contactless payment and mobile ordering for concessions and merch; contactless entry  and box office; timed entry (staggering patron entry) and entry rate monitoring; contact tracing; real time communication with fans; secure ticket transfer (keeping knowledge of the identity of the ticketholder within Ticketmaster); and social distance seating incorporated into its algorithms.

“We know that fans around the world are eager to return to live events and SmartEvent gives event organizers an array of solutions to help make that possible,” Mark Yovich, President of Ticketmaster, said in a statement. “SmartEvent brings together our advanced technology platform and industry-leading venue and seating insights, putting Ticketmaster in the unique position to facilitate paths back to live.”

As with all Ticketmaster tools, they can all be chosen to be used by the clients, depending on their needs, and Ticketmaster acknowledges the return to live may look very different in different parts of the world.

This is one of the first major initiatives announced by Ticketmaster since it became public that Ticketmaster global chairman Jared Smith would be leaving his position at the end of the year, with Yovich taking the reigns of the world’s largest ticketer.

Other ticketing companies have also introduced COVID-safe technology into their platforms, including See Tickets, which recently launched distanced seating plan functionality.