Live Nation And Blockbuster Team Up To Frustrate Ticket Buyers

Dan Gibson | December 2, 2008 1:45 am

From the “Who actually purchases tickets in a store these days?” department, Live Nation has signed an agreement with Blockbuster to house ticket outlets in 500 Blockbuster locations “strategically located” near Live Nation venues come 2009, when Live Nation sets up its own ticketing system. Still, you have to see a few flaws in this plan. One, the tickets won’t be available at all Blockbuster locations, which seems to be a logistical nightmare for store staffers who will be forced to redirect those looking for tickets. Two, Live Nation will be granting “exclusive blocks” of tickets to the store outlets, thus keeping even more tickets out of the general pool for buyers who might not want to hang out in front of a Blockbuster waiting for the on-sale time. On the other hand, the companies are sharing marketing databases and planning cross-promotions for the ever-shrinking cross-section of Americans who have the extra scratch to rent videos and attend large scale concerts. [HITS Daily Double]