{"id":2492,"date":"2015-11-22T15:56:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T20:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/"},"modified":"2015-11-22T21:07:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T02:07:59","slug":"seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/","title":{"rendered":"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

SeatGeek is a search engine for tickets to sports, concerts and other live events.\u00a0 SeatGeek has disrupted the event ticketing space, similar to what Kayak.com did for airline tickets.\u00a0 The company was established to help consumers navigate the secondary market for tickets by aggregating the current inventory so users can browse and compare tickets across 100+ resellers (StubHub, Razorgator, TicketsNow etc.) and 150K+ venues.\u00a0 SeatGeek\u2019s business model is predicated on the creative use of data to improve what used to be a very inefficient (and fairly illiquid) market.\u00a0 Simply aggregating the market saves users time and headache, buts SeatGeek\u2019s analytic capabilities provide price transparency to help consumers make more informed purchase decisions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Value Creation – \u201cDeal Score\u201d Algorithm<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

SeatGeek\u2019s differentiation goes beyond serving as an aggregator\/search engine; the company\u2019s key value proposition is its ability to calculate a Deal Score<\/em> for every posted ticket.\u00a0 Deal Score<\/em> is a metric that gives consumers a more digestible view of the ticket marketplace by indicating the relative value (scale of 0-100) of a ticket listing and ranking of the current listings for a given event.<\/p>\n

Deal Score<\/em> is calculated using a complex, proprietary algorithm that harnesses a vast array of historical data to estimate the fair market value of that ticket. \u00a0According to the SeatGeek, one challenge is that event tickets can have significantly more variability than airline tickets (e.g., coach tickets on flights are priced the same at purchase regardless of the seat location itself). \u00a0As a result, SeatGeek factors in a broad set of inputs when calculating Deal Score<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The main input is Seat Quality<\/u>, which incorporates the row number and section location.\u00a0 Seat quality does not vary across events, so Deal Score<\/em> assumes a constant relationship between seat price and seat quality across all events at a given venue based on long-term historical purchase data.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Deal Score<\/em>\u2019s algorithm also incorporates E<\/span>vent-Specific<\/u>\u00a0inputs like historical ticket prices for the event\/performer, event popularity (for sports this may factor in the teams\u2019 win\/loss record, significance of the matchup, etc.) and the quality (and pricing) of currently available tickets.\u00a0 For those who are curious, there is more detail on the specific algorithm used (called a Kalman Filter) on SeatGeek\u2019s blog (http:\/\/chairnerd.seatgeek.com\/the-math-behind-ticket-bargains\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"SeatGeek<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"Deal<\/a><\/p>\n

Leveraging these inputs, Deal Score<\/em>\u2019s algorithm predicts an expected f<\/em>air market value for a given ticket.\u00a0 By comparing the fair value as predicted by its algorithm to the current listed ticket price, SeatGeek determines a Deal Score<\/em> to help users discover the best deals. \u00a0In addition to saving time and money, consumers benefit from purchasing with more confidence and transparency \u2013 not having that feeling that they were just ripped off.\u00a0 Interestingly, this value proposition functions as a virtuous cycle; the Deal Score<\/em> algorithm is routinely adjusted as SeatGeek continuously learns from customers purchases (i.e., sale prices provide inputs that feed back into the system to improve its predictive power).<\/p>\n

See below for examples of SeatGeek\u2019s interactive mapping platform, which highlights (via\u00a0colored dots) the\u00a0best and worst deals for a given event.<\/p>\n

\"seatgeek<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"Seat<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Value Capture & Future Outlook<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

SeatGeek has grown immensely since its founding in 2009, and has attracted more than $100mm in VC funding.\u00a0 SeatGeek captures value by receiving an ~8-12% commission on ticket sales made by its partners (SeatGeek directs you the reseller\u2019s site when you clicks on a given ticket).\u00a0 In 2014, the company reportedly directed $155mm in ticket sales and realized ~$25mm in revenue.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the company is moving beyond search\/ info aggregation to offering users a \u201cfully-integrated mobile ticket experience\u201d including event recommendations, digital ticket delivery and its own \u201cSeatGeek Marketplace.\u201d \u00a0This Marketplace is the biggest step: SeatGeek announced this past week that users can now sell tickets directly on its site.\u00a0 Leveraging the same algorithm behind Deal Score<\/em>, SeatGeek will recommend a list price so sellers can optimize their sales value.\u00a0 SeatGeek will capture value by charging a 15% fee to sellers.\u00a0 I\u2019m curious to see how its partners will respond to this latest announcement; SeatGeek has gone from brokering a 2-sided market (specifically helping the \u201cbuyers\u201d) to now threatening to disintermediating the resellers by directly catering to ticket resellers. The ticket secondary market itself has become increasingly competitive, as Ticketmaster (known as a primary seller) has recently entered the resale market.\u00a0 Only time will tell if StubHub and other resellers can withstand SeatGeek\u2019s growing importance in the ticket industry. \u00a0\u00a0Given its proprietary data analytics and significantly enhanced user experience, SeatGeek will certainly continue to shape the market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/u><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2011-05-26\/seatgeek-crunches-numbers-to-help-sports-music-fans-avoid-price-gouging<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/briansolomon\/2015\/01\/21\/the-hottest-ticket-in-mobile-seatgeek-helps-you-scalp-the-scalpers\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/sns-wp-blm-seatgeek-46f80908-8f02-11e5-934c-a369c80822c2-20151119-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/recode.net\/2015\/02\/07\/tickets-site-seatgeek-raising-another-giant-investment-to-take-on-stubhub\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/chairnerd.seatgeek.com\/using-a-kalman-filter-to-predict-ticket-prices\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SeatGeek is a search engine for tickets to sports, concerts and other live events.\u00a0 SeatGeek has disrupted the event ticketing space, similar to what Kayak.com did for airline tickets.\u00a0 The company was established to help consumers navigate the secondary market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":2518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[939,937,938,472],"class_list":["post-2492","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kahlman-filter","category-seatgeek","category-sports-data","category-stubhub"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/data-driven-value-creation-value-capture-and-operating-models\/","yoast_head":"\nSeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SeatGeek is a search engine for tickets to sports, concerts and other live events.\u00a0 SeatGeek has disrupted the event ticketing space, similar to what Kayak.com did for airline tickets.\u00a0 The company was established to help consumers navigate the secondary market […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-23T02:07:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"252\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"223\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/\",\"name\":\"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-22T20:56:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-23T02:07:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg\",\"width\":252,\"height\":223},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"SeatGeek is a search engine for tickets to sports, concerts and other live events.\u00a0 SeatGeek has disrupted the event ticketing space, similar to what Kayak.com did for airline tickets.\u00a0 The company was established to help consumers navigate the secondary market […]","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2015-11-23T02:07:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":252,"height":223,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/","name":"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-22T20:56:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-23T02:07:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/11\/Deal-Score-Logo-2.jpg","width":252,"height":223},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/seatgeek-creating-price-transparency-in-the-ticket-market\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"SeatGeek \u2013 Creating Price Transparency in the Ticket Market"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/2492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/2492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}