Entering the competitive field that is ticket sales, Gametime makes a name for itself with last-minute ticket sales and its exceptional mobile user interface.
The company has implemented many different cutting-edge features in this effort to give the best product to ticket buyers as well as sellers. Through their feature LastCall, Gametime offers tickets all the way up until the event begins, as well as ninety minutes into the event! This is of utmost importance to fans looking for cheap tickets, as prices drop greatly as the event nears. Gametime shows $48 as the median ticket price for an MLB game two days in advance. However, this price plummets to just $13 ninety minutes into the contest. As well as helping low-budget buyers, LastCall also gives ticket sellers another chance to make money if their ticket goes unsold at the start of the event. According to founder and CEO Brad Griffith, last-minute sales are where the company looks to differentiate itself from competitors. “Last-minute [buying and selling] is vibrant and growing fast,” he said. “That is where we aim to do our best work.”
In addition to these last-minute tickets, Gametime’s platform offers an arsenal of tools that improve the experience and security of buying tickets. All from the app or website, potential ticket buyers can see popular or cheap events in their area, as well as what the view would look like from each seat. To provide maximum security, Gametime offers a plethora of policies protecting customers and their money. Some of these policies are the lowest price guarantee, 24 hour return guarantee, event cancellation protection, and even refunds for buyers who lose their jobs. The event cancellation protection feature has become paramount in the past year, as many ticket sales websites have failed to get their clients refunds for shows canceled due to COVID. Griffith recognizes that fulfilling all of these guarantees is costly but sees establishing a relationship with the fans as the priority. “We’re willing to take some risk here for the benefit of the fan,” he said in a 2020 interview with Forbes.
One of the earliest investors in Gametime is Jeff Mallet, a former executive for Yahoo and a part-owner of the San Francisco Giants. Mallet understands that to create a name for Gametime against conglomerates like Stubhub or Ticketmaster, the company needs to deliver the highest quality product on the market. “We want to be the best option, on the supply side, for teams sending us inventory,” Mallet said.
Adding onto the quality of the product Gametime has been able to produce, there is not a better time to be investing in the event industry. We are getting into the industry as the COVID case numbers are going down and the vaccine numbers are going up fast. Due to the pandemic, the team at Linden3 feels great about the investment for the return we foresee. Furthermore, the industry is large and growing fast. It has recently been valued by Statista at over $22 billion in the US and Canada, the two countries where Gametime is currently available.