Sports and entertainment fans soon may find more places selling tickets directly to the public.
Direct ticket sales, which bypass Ticketmaster, the industy’s dominant player, got a boost earlier this month when Irvine-based Paciolan raised $5 million from Comcast Spectacor LP.
The unit of Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and basketball’s Philadelphia 76ers.
Paciolan is set to provide software and services for ticket sales at Wachovia Complex in Philadelpha under the deal.
Paciolan Chief Executive John Hnanicek called the pact a milestone in the way tickets are handled by sports and entertainment owners.
“The larger organizations are now in a position to take control of ticketing and interact with their patrons by selling tickets directly to patrons” Hnanicek said.
Paciolan’s software allows teams to bypass West Hollywood-based Ticketmaster by building their own databases.
The software provides arenas or teams with buying, demographic and attendance details on each ticket buyer. It also allows for the creation of “smart tickets” that can be issued along with event tickets for snack bar items, merchandise or parking.
The smart ticket idea, Hnanicek said, is set to be rolled out in Philadelphia.
“We focus on ways to provide value to fans,” he said.
Hnanicek declined to provide revenue numbers for privately held Paciolan but said it has been growing at “about 30% per year.”
Based on previously reported revenue, that would put the company on pace for roughly $26 million in 2004. In California, Pacolian counts the San Diego Padres and Stockton Event Center among its clients.
“We are continuing to grow and add jobs,maybe as many as 25 over the next year,” Hnanicek said.
“They’re technology jobs, but they’re in a fun industry,” he said.
Theme Park Hunting
Fresh off Garden Grove’s casino controversy, the city’s economic development team is touting its International West development plan at this week’s International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions trade show in Orlando, Fla.
The plan, developed with Newport Beach-based Ledo International, provides potential developers with a vision for a 400-acre resort and entertainment area along Harbor Boulevard roughly between Chapman Avenue and the Garden Grove (22) Freeway.
It’s the second year that the city has exhibited in the trade show, and is one of only a handful of cities to take part in a show dominated by theme park and carnival providers.
“It’s a good way for us to get our name out there,” said Greg Blodgett, the city’s project manager. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the opportunity.”
Earlier this year, Garden Grove found itself in hot water when residents learned that city officials had initial talks about the possibility of a casino on Harbor Boulevard.
Blodgett said the city even got some good out of the casino controversy,now considered a dead issue.
“We got national press from those stories,” he said. “It drew attention from potential investors on the East Coast.”
DGWB Bags Mobile Edge
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Mobile Edge bag: DGWB touting charity angle |
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DGWB Advertising and Communi-cations has taken on public relations services for Anaheim-based Mobile Edge, a 2-year-old company that makes fashionable computer carrying cases, backpacks and briefcases.
Mobile Edge employs 25 people in Anaheim and works with sales representatives throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its products are made in Asia.
One of the lines DGWB will promoted is a women’s line called the Caring Case Collection that features pink suede and leather bags designed with philanthropy in mind.
The company donates 10% of the sale of each case to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Mobile Edge products are carried by Best Buy, CompUSA.com, the Home Shopping Network, PC Connect and PC Universe.
The account is part of a stable of clients the ad shop has taken on since adding public relations services early this year. Besides Mobile Edge, DGWB has added Children’s Hospital of Orange County on retainer and several project clients.
Stacey Doherty, DGWB’s director of public relations, manages the accounts.
