Amazon Is Eyeing U.S. Ticketing Business

Amazon is reportedly seeking to become a source for event tickets in a move that may challenge Ticketmaster's dominance of the ticketing business. According to Reuters, Amazon sees the U.S. ticketing market as a "ripe" field for business development by the e-commerce giant, driven by consumer dislike of ticket fees and venue owners and sports leagues who want alternatives for ticket distributors. Amazon has already found some success in their initial foray into live event ticketing in the UK, where the e-commerce company has been selling tickets to theatrical productions in London's West End since 2015. Amazon has previously approached Ticketmaster about a partnership, but talks stalled over who would retain control over customer data from ticket sales, Reuters said, c sources with knowledge of the negotiations. As well, Amazon has been eyeing the secondary market and has approached at least one major sports league about creating a ticket resale service akin to StubHub Reuters reported. "It's all about Prime," Brandon Ross, an analyst at BTIG told Reuters. "The reason they are spending multiple billions of dollars a year on programming is to get more Prime subscribers and engage more consumers." Live Nation declined to comment. Amazon did not return a request for comment.via Celebrity Access