Promoters slam exclusive Wellington venues ticket deal

Ticketmaster's appointment as the exclusive ticketing agency for four of Wellington’s major venues "without any consultation" has been slammed by the New Zealand Promoters’ Association (NZPA).

The promoters are concered that the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA)’s new six-year contract giving the Live Nation subsidiary full control of ticket sales at its venues will affect their ability to bring quality and affordable entertainment to New Zealand’s capital.

With Ticketmaster to replace Ticketek from 1st June, the NZPA has released a statement saying the appointment of Ticketmaster NZ as the exclusive ticketer for WREDA division Venues Wellington was made “without any consultation with promoters.”

Venues Wellington, operates four venues in the New Zealand capital: the TSB Bank Arena (capacity, 5,655), Michael Fowler Centre (capacity 2,209), St James Theatre (capacity 1,552) and the Opera House (capacity 1,361).

With Wellington’s Westpac Stadium remaining with Ticketek, the NZPA statement added “as two ticketing companies will be operating in Wellington, NZPA would like to have the choice to select one of those companies on a per-show basis as their preferred ticketer for any venue.

The statement advised “NZPA would like the ticket buying public to understand that this exclusive contract takes away the right of the promoter to seek better pricing from a competitive ticket provider for the public.”

The Association, until recently known as the New Zealand Entertainment Operators Association (NEOA), also expressed its concern that Ticketmaster – through Ticketmaster Resale – is “actively involved” in the New Zealand secondary ticketing market.

It added “this includes the potential for all tickets to events at Venues Wellington venues to be targeted for resale through the Ticketmaster Resale site and others, to further confuse, inconvenience and take advantage of the public who purchase tickets to events at any of these venues.

“The ticket resale market in New Zealand ...is already under investigation because of the public outcry.”

Tricia Macpherson, co-owner of the Stetson Group, which has been promoting events in Wellington for 48 years, said the change was another example of how WREDA had lost touch with local promoters.

Macpherson told local media “they did absolutely not include promoters [in the tender process], and yet we are the ones in the main that use the system. We got wind they were planning to change, and emailed Wreda to tell them we thought it should stay like it is, with Ticketek."

Macpherson said promoters risked a lot to bring shows to the capital, and pricing was vitally important.

She fears that acts and shows will prefer to use Auckland venues, adding “there's very few venues to use in Wellington now. St James Theatre is closing next year, and the Town Hall is out."

In response, WREDA Venues Marketing and Destination Development Manager David Perks said Ticketmaster was the preferred option for many reasons, one of them being that Ticketmaster's reselling scheme meant it was less likely for fake tickets to be on the market.

Perks stated “we're trying to get the results we want in terms of significant goals to have more variety of performances ... we want a great ticket-buying experience for Wellington punters, and we want to make sure the costs that are paid by Wellington customers are standard.

"We don't want people to be ripped off in the process. We believe you need to have a proactive view to be able to change."

Image: TSB Bank Arena (top) and St James Theatre (below).