In a candid discussion about the secondary ticketing marketplace, we caught up with viagogo’s Managing Director, Cris Miller, to explore where he believes the company can add value at every level – from offering a safe space for fans to buy and sell unused tickets, to increased atmosphere in grounds and additional insights for rightsholders on their untapped international fanbases.
“I was what they call a middle sprinter, a 200- and 400-metre runner. I was deathly afraid of running the 400 metres, but I did the best I could and ended up running at university,” says Cris Miller, reminiscing about his days in Arizona before moving to the Bay Area in San Francisco, where he was first introduced to the co-founders of the ticket resale company that ultimately became StubHub. Today, StubHub Holdings operates two brands, Stubhub in North America and viagogo, internationally, under the same centralised operation.
“I was never going to be an Olympian or anything,” he continues, “but being an athlete teaches you a lot and it was a great experience for me. Looking back on that, I really wish I had done things a little differently. When you’re young, you don’t really understand what you have.”
Viagogo’s Managing Director is in a decidedly reflective mood, and top of mind is the perception of the secondary ticketing market in the UK.
“We [the industry] have a job to do, to make sure that we have the opportunity to speak to and educate rightsholders, which is really only done effectively in a conversation like this,” Miller explains. “It’s very difficult to do when you’re just getting little sound bites from a story.”
Well aware of some of the negative past issues historically associated with the company, Miller is open about his mission to re-introduce viagogo to rightsholders in this country, to challenge some of the misconceptions that the industry holds, and to demonstrate where the platform can add value for all stakeholders.
“We’re going door-to-door to try to explain the value that we provide and how they can tap into it. It may not be for everybody, but to us it feels like there’s a lot of alignment and, ultimately, it’s about addressing where there might be misconceptions and finding a way to have a partnership that can be very beneficial to all three parties – rightsholders, viagogo and, most importantly, the fans.”
Indeed, from a fan’s perspective, the use case for viagogo is compelling. Regulated by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK, outside of team-operated resale platforms, viagogo offers the safest way for fans to buy and sell tickets to sports and entertainment events. Certainly, more so than the inevitable haggling that takes place on the streets leading to stadiums around the country ahead of a popular fixture. A scene replicated digitally via other online marketplaces such as Facebook and Gumtree, which, in many ways, offer no protection.
As for the best example of the viagogo platform in action, Miller points to the “unique set of circumstances” associated with Major League Baseball (MLB) that makes it the perfect case study for the secondary ticketing space.
“Baseball has 81 home games. Nobody can make it to all 81 home games unless you’re completely diehard or don’t do anything else,” he jokes. “If you’re a season ticket holder and you can’t make it to a game, why not use a sanctioned service to allow for that season ticket holder to resell it in a safe, secure and easy way?
“The other thing about maintaining the value of that season ticket through that sale, is that you’re securing your seat location forever. You have access to that seat, and you have optionality, you have flexibility,” Miller explains, later highlighting Covid’s role in reinforcing the importance of flexibility in the eyes of the consumer. As part of its customer guarantee, viagogo refunded hundreds of millions of pounds for cancelled events, while those who bought tickets on the street or social media were unable to count on that level of protection.
“I don’t know of a sports team in the United States that doesn’t have a sanctioned resale service, which is either operated by us or one of the other market participants, and we’d love to see that evolve in the United Kingdom. There are cultural nuances, no question, but that’s all addressable as long as you can sit around a room and discuss it.”
In the case of MLB, the world’s best attended sports league, Miller explains the company is an authorized ticket marketplace for the league and work directly with teams like the New York Yankees to to help season ticket holders list tickets easily and fans purchase them safely on the platform. Baseball has tapped into a multi-billion-dollar market, which he estimates, for the entertainment industry as a whole, the global secondary ticketing market is worth around $30bn (£25bn).
Beyond these eye-watering numbers, however, Miller maintains that it’s viagogo’s unique position as a global ticketing technology business that gives further reason for rightsholders to sit up and take notice of the opportunity on offer, going on to describe how the goals of both viagogo and potential partners in the UK are “very much aligned.”
“Number one is that we don’t want any empty seats,” he says. “It’s a frustrating thing to see, particularly in some of the premium locations. There is always somebody that you could place in that seat and that has to extend beyond the hardcore fan. That means you need a provider that can give you distribution and give you reach. viagogo invests millions and millions of pounds in marketing. And we are advertising these events all over the world,” he adds, pointing to English football’s international appeal, particularly within the US and Asia, as potential drivers of matchday attendances and other associated revenue streams.
“We can help bring new customers to the venue,” he continues. “If you’re a club and you have limited resources and limited people, or you have technology that is more focused on operations than it is on marketing, we can be a very effective partner to help drive fans, who then become part of your ecosystem.
“Now all of a sudden you have data on customer insights and pricing trends, which we share, and you can better target that customer which you can sell merchandise to or possibly sell more tickets to.”
With the re-education campaign – the company’s “number one job” – well underway, Miller hints at soon-to-be-announced agreements with high-profile properties in the UK as an upcoming source of positive viagogo headlines in the country. These will add to its portfolio of partners which include Chelsea FC and Paris St Germain.
“We’re going to be securing partnerships,” he says matter-of-factly. “We’re very excited about the potential of how we can drive value for the rightsholders. In the UK in particular, we want to find partners, that are open-minded and can see our value at a deep level, such as how we use data to help increase sell-through from season ticket holders, through bespoke product offerings and ticket bundling to encourage merchandise or food and beverage sales for the teams.
“In addition, we’re going to double down on all the benefits that the service has and that we’ve always operated with – ensuring a transaction goes smoothly, making sure sellers get paid and fans get the tickets they purchased and attend the events they love.”
