Revolutionary system for selling tickets to sporting events

AN Irish company is aiming to revolutionise ticketing at sporting events worldwide.

Last October, Ticket-Text secured a deal with Fulham to sell tickets to top flight games online and transmit them as a barcoded text message to mobile phones which can be scanned in at designated turnstiles at Craven Cottage.

The system has proven so successful that the concept will be used in the coming weeks by Punchestown and the Curragh.

Ticket Text’s CEO Mark McLaughlin explained how the interest developed from the race course chiefs.

“People began taking our calls,” he said with a laugh.

“We have being working out of England for the last couple of months though the company is Irish and all the staff are Irish.

“The reason for that was we wanted to build our profile and show what we could do. The Irish market is somewhat dominated by one ticketing player with Ticketmaster and things are also a lot quieter with Thomond Park and Lansdowne being redeveloped.

“So we felt it was easier to achieve our goals working in England and a bigger market. Anyway I think change happens slowly.”

He admits that the Fulham deal helped open doors on this side of the Irish Sea.

“When we can say we are doing Premiership football, people naturally sit up and take note. The racecourses we have dealt with are really progressive and into the new concept. We will be doing the National Hunt Festival at Punchestown, the 1,000 and 2,000 guineas at the Curragh and a few evening meetings as well.

“It is a good fit for us as some of our investors have a strong racing background while it also makes things a lot easier for people travelling from the UK to get their tickets in advance to their phone rather than have to collect them in this hotel or that.”

The Sport of Kings wouldn’t be the only groundbreaking venture for Ticket-Text in 2008.

He continued: “We are also doing the Ireland and Columbia international soccer friendly. The fact that it is at Craven Cottage is naturally a huge plus. We have the technology in place and given that there is such a big Irish community in London we expect to be kept busy.”

And he revealed: “we are in talks with a number of other people but things don’t happen overnight as most sporting bodies are locked into deals with the likes of Ticketmaster. From our point of view the GAA is the biggest sporting attraction in Ireland and that is something we would really like to get involved with and likewise with the new developments at Thomond Park and Lansdowne Road.

“Time will tell but this is very much the way of the future.”

The customer will also have a ‘print at home’ version e-mailed to them which can also be scanned at the venue. If they lose their phone or accidentally delete the bar code, they can receive another SMS ticket through their account.

* For more details log onto: www.ticket-text.com