SeatAdvisor Seeks to Bring Secondary Ticket Sales Home

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A company named SeatAdvisor is seeking to take the pain out of secondary seat sales, a topic that can perplex and frustrate sports teams, by giving them greater control over the resell while also providing a level of security for fans buying the tickets.

To do this it has launched TicketResell, a technology that puts the primary source of the tickets, the sports team, in charge of reselling any that cannot be used at the last second, bringing control back to the team rather than to outside market forces.

Sports teams have a love/hate relationship with secondary ticket resellers. In some cases the resellers are offering tickets at significantly lower than official rates, because the games are either overpriced or not popular. That annoys teams. The NY Yankees battle with StubHub is a prime example of this issue.

Then there are the more basic ticket resellers, the ones that most fans are familiar with, people outside of stadiums with a wad of cash in one hand and a fan of possibly questionable tickets in the other, shouting out potential ‘deals’ and claiming that they have top seats.

TicketResell removes any middleman from the equation by providing fans that have extra tickets a secure avenue of reselling them. The fan simply establishes an account with the venue where the ticket was originally purchased. They then set a resell price and the tickets become available for new buyers. In addition fans reselling their tickets have the ability to tie the sales in to notices in social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to better alert friends of select ticket availability.

Pretty much any fan, or concert goer, has experienced the issue with someone dropping out at the last minute and it always seems that it is hard to get someone on short notice. This solves that issue as well as for the serial procrastinator who waits too long before an event is sold out- now tickets can become available at the last minute.

The company plans to debut the technology at the Breeders’ Cup World Championship taking place Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita Park.

There seems to be a lot of opportunities for a technology like this, and while MLB and the NFL have been working to take ticket resale internally, there is a huge spectrum of sports that are still looking up at the 21st Century fan and wondering how to meet their needs.

A program like TicketResell should appeal to them and take the next step forward following the move made years ago by Craigslist that brought the online the ticket secondary market to the masses. TicketResell has the potential to add security to ease of purchase, something everyone can value. In addition since the ticket purchase is often the teams first contact with a fan, by ensuring that they know of the ability to resell their tickets via the team it helps strengthen the relationship between the two.

MLBAM adds Ticket functions to At the Ballpark App

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Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) continues to push the envelope in providing fan friendly apps that do everything from allow you to listen to games on the road, seat upgrades to ordering food at select ballparks and has now expanded its At the Ballpark app to allow access to tickets.

MLBAM has developed the feature with Tickets.com to create MyTickets Mobile, a feature that will reside in the already shipping At the Ballpark app. The app is designed for not only season ticket holders but also fans that have purchased a single game ducat.

Using the At the Ballpark app a user can access their ticket, which will include what is expected such as opponent, seat, row, section, game time and secure bar code that are on a printed ticket. So now the ease with which you can show a plane boarding pass or pay for your coffee at leading outlets is also available for baseball fans.

The app will also support users of Apple’s Passbook so that tickets can be stored there for use and overall the app is supported by both Apple iOS devices as well as ones that run the Android operating system.

The program will not be available at all ballparks upon release with only these 12 teams supporting the program: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. MLBAM said that additional clubs are expected to support the app at some point in the future.

Friday Grab Bag: New iPhones Next Week-FIFA Qualifiers this Weekend

The Major League Baseball Advanced Media arm has signed a multiyear deal with baseball sabermetrics research firm Baseball Prospectus that will call for the two of them to share data and analysis that will result in new features from both parties.

The relation starts immediately with Postseason Probabilities, an interactive visualization of each teams’ current standings and their chances of winning the division or wild card, or securing a postseason berth. If you have never heard on Baseball Prospectus before, it is where ESPN analyst Nate Silver got his start.

Apple having press event next week
For those waiting for the official announcement of the next generation iPhone from Apple, it looks like that wait is just about over as the company has sent out press invites for an event that is scheduled to take place Sept. 10, kudos to All Things Digital which was the first to nail the date.

If you are considering buying a new iPhone, traditionally available about two weeks after introduction, Apple and some of its partners are doing a buyback program on older phones. Now about the pending iPads — well the rumors seem to indicate that there will not be a September rollout so don’t hold your breath for one just yet.

Microsoft’s next–gen tablet details leaked
Amid all of the hubbub of new tablets this week was a rumor about the features for the next generation tablets from Microsoft, called the Surface Pro 2. According to Slash Gear it will be powered by a next generation Intel Haswell-based Core i5 processor.

Other details are that it will go from 4GB to 8GB in memory, improved battery life and will have a new kickstand. No pricing or rollout date was mentioned. Meanwhile the current Surface Pro now has a permanent $100 price cut.

Don’t bite this Kit Kat
New versions of Google’s Android operating systems have been named after candy for some time — most reading this are running a version of Jelly Bean right now. Well in the future it looks like you will be Kit Kat.

It looks like Google and Hershey, the candy bar maker, have entered into a financial relationship that allows Google to use the trademarked name.

ESPN to develop RedZone for Soccer?
Fans of the NFL know the program called RedZone, a program in the NFL Network that switches between games as teams enter the Red Zone, or inside the opponents 20 yard line for those of you not on the know, and shows the team scoring, or failing to.

Now it looks like ESPN is taking that successful format and moving it to to its broadcasts of the World Cup qualifiers this weekend. It is launching a program called “FIFA World Cup Whiparound-Quest to Qualify” for 36 matches, mostly of which are only available on ESPN3 that will feature live look-ins and highlights from all of the major matches taking place, according to Awful Announcing.

MLBAM Continues to Leverage Capabilities into New Fields

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Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) is leveraging its huge video broadcasting and Internet infrastructure and has branched out into a very different field this week when it acquired the distribution rights to a live concert.

The concert deal was signed with the Global Poverty Project, which for the second year in a row is hosting a concert that is called the Global Citizen Festival that features Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and John Mayer and which will be held on the Great Lawn of New York City’s Central Park on Saturday, September 28, 2013.

MLBAM will be using its back end streaming video infrastructure that currently fans may know from MLB.TV, and will be offering the event to both domestic and international broadcast partners interested in presenting the show with either live high definition broadcasts or as an on-demand service.

While it may seem odd that the interactive arm of MLB would turn to this concert license, it is already using its advanced high tech capabilities in a variety of other areas, both sports and non-sports focus. For instance it is the provider of in-flight movies on Southwest Airlines, provides ESPN3’s streaming and is the technology behind Glenn Beck’s Internet television channel, according to the NYT.

MLB has been building its infrastructure in this and related areas for some time and is a unique position in that it can undercut what might be viewed as mainstream broadcasters at providing this service. It has the infrastructure not only at a league level but increasingly at individual ball parks so that stadiums can quickly support an event such as the concert and provide broadcast and other services.

Friday Grab Bag- MLB.TV at a Discount!

The Fall Classic is coming into sight and if your team is looking to make the playoffs (mine is not) then you might want to consider this offer from MLB. It is offering its TV package, MLB.TV, for $19.99. Subscribers can watch games not just on a TV but also laptops, iPhones and iPads as well as the Xbox 360.

Motorola to Xoom no more
If you have a Motorola Xoom tablet it might be a collectors’ item. No the company is not phasing it out, but it has settled a trademark dispute with Xoom Corp. that spells the end Motorola using that name for its tablet.

Xoom Corp., an online payment company, convinced Motorola that it infringed on Xoom’s trademarks when it released the Xoom tablet, so expect Motorola’s next generation tablet to carry a different name.

Facebook’s CEO Seeks Expanded Mobile Internet Access
Mark Zuckerberg has a tech alliance called Internet.org that will seek to expand the availability to billions around the globe that currently have no method of getting online. He called the effort “the greatest challenge of our generation.”

Members include Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, Qualcomm and Opera. Rival Google, which is working on its own solution to this issue, is not a member nor is Intel which has also been active in this area.

Apple to refresh both iPad and iPhone at same time?
Rumors have been going around that Apple would refresh one then wait a few weeks and refresh the other but now they are reporting that both will be done at an event that Apple is expected to host on Sept. 10.

Bloomberg has reported that Apple will release on that date, which interestingly is after several rivals such as Samsung and Sony plan to also release new offerings. Samsung is expected to do Apple one better and debut its smartwatch as well.


Intel preps next generation tablet processor

Intel often has interesting names for its processors and the next two coming down the pipe, Cherry Trail and Willow Trail are expected to be much faster processors than the current Silvermont family which is just now coming on line.

Cherry Trail is expected to hit the market in the third quarter of 2014 while Willow Trail will follow the next quarter, according to a report from Tech Radar.

Details of Archos tablet revealed in FCC filing
Slash Gear is reporting details of an upcoming tablet from Archos that is expected to be called the Archos 101 XS 2, which the company is expected to unveil next month at the IFA show. The tablet will feature 1GB RAM, a 10.1-inch display, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for additional capacity.

Fanatic App Tells Out of Town Fans Where to Go

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Have you ever traveled to a distant city and been forced to miss watching your favorite team play because you did not want to watch the game in a sports bar filled with hostile fans? Well Fanatic has developed an app that helps like minded fans find each other and enjoy a game together.

The company is actually delivering its second iteration of the app, it first hit the market with a version that only supported iOS digital mobile devices late last January and now has expanded into the Android space as well.

The concept is very simply. A fan of a team, or league, can search for the top venues to watch that team in a specific city. So a Bears fan in Charlotte could seek out a bar that caters to fans that root for the team. Rankings will rise and fall as Fanatic users recommend sites for other fans. It recommends specific venues nearby based on a user’s location, sports interests and the team ranking of those venues.

It feature top venues for a wide range of leagues including NCAA football and basketball, the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS, along with the top European soccer leagues, including the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A and the UEFA Champions League.

The company is currently developing a system that will have specific rewards for users. You will earn points for usage for such things as checking in and at some future time they will be redeemable for specific prizes.

This seems like a very good mixture of social media and sports, and as any fan that has been in a different city and wanted to watch their home team knows, some bars are hostile to out of town fans and some cater to them, the difficulty is finding them.