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Comcast Will Buy Ticketmaster Spinoff

By PW Staff

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jan. 27, 2010

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports Comcast will buy Paciolan Inc., a ticketing company being sold by Ticketmaster in the wake of its merger with Live Nation: "The deal, if it goes through, would give Comcast-Spectacor Paciolan’s technology, intellectual property and 200 accounts with venues Paciolan sells tickets for. Comcast-Spectacor already has 50 accounts through its New Era Tickets subsidiary, which last year sold 10 million tickets. In addition to owning New Era, Comcast-Spectacor is the principal owner of an arena-management company, Global Spectrum; the owner of Ovations Food Services, which provides food and beverage services at a range of venues; and the owner of Front Row Marketing Services, which helps arenas market themselves. It also owns the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers. The department and 17 attorneys general on Monday filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in Washington to block Ticketmaster’s merger with Live Nation. Simultaneously, they filed a proposed settlement to the lawsuit, that, if approved, would address their concerns about the merger. The requirements that Ticketmaster sell Paciolan and license its ticketing software are contained in the settlement."