Tickets.com

Tickets.com is a ticketing technology company headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. Its business developed around software and online services for selling and managing tickets to live events, and it became particularly associated with professional baseball ticketing through its relationship with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The company originated in 1995 under the corporate name Entertainment Express, Inc. Its operating business began in 1996 when co-founders Irv Richter, David Richter, Jim Cassano, and Larry Schwartz acquired Hill Arts and Entertainment Systems. During the same year, the company came under the control of California venture-capital firm Ventana Global. It then pursued an acquisition-led expansion, assembling a group of ticketing-related businesses over the following two years. The acquisitions included BASS and Tickets.com, the latter having been incubated by Idealab. The acquisition of Tickets.com in 1999 provided the identity that ultimately replaced the earlier Entertainment Express name. The company was subsequently rebranded as Tickets.com, aligning its corporate identity with the consumer-facing ticketing name. Its development took place during the rapid expansion of internet commerce, when ticket sellers, venues, sports organizations, and entertainment promoters were increasingly adopting online purchasing and digital ticket-management systems. Tickets.com became a public company in November 1999 through an initial public offering led by Morgan Stanley, with internet analyst Mary Meeker associated with the offering. The IPO raised $75 million, and the company's share price reportedly increased by 60 percent on its first trading day. The public-market phase was relatively short. In June 2000, Tickets.com negotiated an agreement that granted it exclusive rights to provide online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the league's digital-media operation, through a multiyear arrangement. This relationship connected Tickets.com with one of the largest professional sports properties in the United States and became the principal strategic development described in the company's history. In 2005, Major League Baseball Advanced Media acquired Tickets.com for $66 million. The transaction ended the company's status as an independently traded public company and placed the ticketing technology business within MLB's broader digital-media structure. Tickets.com is described as a wholly owned subsidiary of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Its role is therefore best understood as a specialized ticketing-technology and event-commerce brand operating within a sports-media group, rather than as a standalone consumer marketplace with an independent public-company identity. The available reference material does not provide a detailed current product catalog, executive roster, geographic market breakdown, or recent corporate announcements. Accordingly, this entry identifies the company's documented corporate history, ticketing-technology focus, MLB relationship, and acquisition history while leaving unsupported operational details unfilled.

Tickets.com began as Entertainment Express, Inc., incorporated in 1995. The company's operating activities were launched in 1996 by Irv Richter, David Richter, Jim Cassano, and Larry Schwartz after the acquisition of Hill Arts and Entertainment Systems. In that same year, California venture-capital firm Ventana Global gained control of the company. The business expanded through a series of acquisitions during the next two years. Among the companies acquired were BASS and Tickets.com, a ticketing company incubated by Idealab. The purchase of Tickets.com in 1999 was the decisive branding event in the company's early history: the broader enterprise adopted the Tickets.com name and moved away from its original Entertainment Express identity. The company's rebranding coincided with a period of rapid growth in online commerce and the development of internet-based ticket purchasing. Tickets.com subsequently entered the public markets in November 1999. Morgan Stanley led the initial public offering, with internet analyst Mary Meeker associated with the transaction. The offering raised $75 million, while the company's share price reportedly climbed 60 percent on its first day of trading. Tickets.com's most consequential commercial development followed in June 2000, when it negotiated a multiyear arrangement to become the exclusive provider of online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The agreement gave the company an important institutional relationship with professional baseball and linked its ticketing systems to MLB's digital-media operations. Rather than remaining solely an independent online ticketing company, Tickets.com became increasingly integrated with a major sports-media ecosystem. In 2005, Major League Baseball Advanced Media purchased Tickets.com for $66 million. The acquisition removed Tickets.com from the public markets and made it a wholly owned subsidiary of MLB Advanced Media. The transaction represented the culmination of the company's evolution from an acquisition-built ticketing business, through a brief period as a publicly traded internet company, into a specialist technology asset within Major League Baseball's digital organization. The supplied reference material contains limited information about the company's later product development, brand architecture, management, geographic operations, and current consumer-facing services. It does establish Tickets.com as a Costa Mesa-based global ticketing technology company whose documented history centers on online ticketing, acquisitions, public-market activity, and ownership by Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

• 2005

  Acquisition by Major League Baseball Advanced Media

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Major League Baseball Advanced Media acquired Tickets.com for $66 million.

• 2000

  Exclusive Major League Baseball online-ticketing agreement

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Tickets.com negotiated a multiyear deal to provide exclusive online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

• 1999

  Company adopts the Tickets.com name

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Following the acquisition of Tickets.com, a company incubated by Idealab, the wider enterprise was rebranded as Tickets.com.

• 1999

  Initial public offering

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Tickets.com completed an IPO in November 1999, raising $75 million.

• 1996

  Operating business launches through Hill Arts acquisition

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Co-founders Irv Richter, David Richter, Jim Cassano, and Larry Schwartz launched operations through the acquisition of Hill Arts and Entertainment Systems.

• 1996

  Ventana Global gains control

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  California venture-capital firm Ventana Global took control of the company.

• 1995

  Entertainment Express, Inc. is incorporated

  [1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  The company that would become Tickets.com was originally incorporated as Entertainment Express, Inc.

A ticketing-technology provider serving sports and entertainment organizations, with a strategic emphasis on online ticketing and a close association with Major League Baseball.

• Ticketing technology

  Online ticketing services

  Tickets.com's documented core business was the provision of technology and online services for selling tickets to live events. The company assembled its capabilities through acquisitions and later supplied online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media under an exclusive multiyear arrangement. The available reference does not identify specific software modules, consumer interfaces, venue tools, or current product names.

• Event ticketing

  Sports and entertainment ticketing systems

  The company operated as a ticketing technology provider for sports and entertainment organizations. Its history includes acquisitions of ticketing-related businesses such as BASS and the Idealab-incubated Tickets.com, suggesting a platform-oriented business assembled to support event-ticket distribution. Detailed capabilities and present-day packaging are not specified in the supplied sources.

• 2005

  Sale to Major League Baseball Advanced MediaM&A

  Background

  After its public-company period and its online-ticketing relationship with MLB Advanced Media, Tickets.com became the subject of an acquisition by the league's digital-media arm.

  Action taken

  Major League Baseball Advanced Media acquired Tickets.com for $66 million.

  Aftermath

  Tickets.com became a wholly owned subsidiary of Major League Baseball Advanced Media and ceased to operate as an independent publicly traded company.

  Acquisition price. $66 million (2005)

  Source

• 2000

  Pursuit of exclusive MLB online-ticketing rightsStrategy

  Background

  Tickets.com was negotiating its position in online ticketing during the expansion of internet commerce and professional sports digital-media operations.

  Action taken

  The company negotiated a multiyear agreement to become the exclusive provider of online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

  Aftermath

  The agreement strengthened Tickets.com's connection with Major League Baseball and preceded MLB Advanced Media's acquisition of the company in 2005.

  Source

• 2005

  Major League Baseball Advanced Media acquires Tickets.com[1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Major League Baseball Advanced Media acquired Tickets.com for $66 million, making the ticketing company a wholly owned subsidiary and ending its independent public-company status.

• 2000

  Tickets.com secures exclusive online ticketing rights for Major League Baseball Advanced Media[1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Tickets.com negotiated a multiyear agreement under which it would provide exclusive online ticketing services to Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

• 1999

  Tickets.com completes initial public offering[1]Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Tickets.com went public in November 1999 in an offering led by Morgan Stanley. The IPO raised $75 million, and the company's share price reportedly rose 60 percent on its first trading day.

1. 1Tickets.comen.wikipedia.org