2025 Ticketing Star Awards: Rick Katz

Rick Katz
Sr. Director, Ticket Operations, Events | Prudential Center, New Jersey Devils
Having gotten his start as a part-time ticket taker while as a college student in the 1980s, Rick Katz has seen event tickets evolve from perforated paper to sophisticated mobile data capture. That means heightened efficiency, traceability and performance. In some ways, it might mean more work, too.
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“We’ve increased the genre of events, the number of events that we actually do, and really haven’t increased the staff,” said Katz, who oversees a department of three experienced full-time staffers as senior director of tickets, events, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Katz and his team handle concerts and other live entertainment at the arena, separately from its sports tenants, the New Jersey Devils NHL team and Seton Hall University basketball.
“We have a good team and we have to stay on top of our game, because it’s multifaceted now,” said Katz, who says 2025 is shaping up to have just as many or more events as an already-robust 2024. “You need to be fully involved with guest services, operations and event management to mitigate any situations. I think it’s a matter of not working in a silo of only ticketing. You get to know a little bit about a bunch of different aspects of what goes on to put on an event. This way, if something does go wrong or somebody does come to you, at least you have some valid input.”
Katz has been with Prudential Center since its 2007 opening and, while admitting you have to “roll with the punches” and adapt in ticketing, tech has gone a long way toward solving problems that have plagued the industry for decades.
“Most venues, including ours, have gone fully digital,” Katz said. Today, most guests are accustomed to using their phones to gain entry, or are quickly able to learn, but “Early on was challenging. Now that everyone has jumped on board, you’re just subjected to Wi-Fi (issues) or just the human element of people understanding how to get to their ticket, which is one of the bigger concerns on the night of a show.”
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Added benefits include transparency in the ticket’s journey from sale to show, which helps alleviate another longstanding ticketing issue.
“Previously, if people were selling and or buying (tickets) on the secondary market, there was no traceability, no trackability,” said Katz. “Now, because that secondary market person needs to transfer it through whatever ticketing platform the venue is on, you capture the data for the actual end user. That’s helpful, for sure.”
