Quick take:
- The NFTs will primarily serve as memorabilia and “proof of attendance”.
- Ticketmaster and Dapper Labs launched an NFT pilot program six months ago.
- Ticketmaster will release NFT tickets for 100 games in the upcoming NFL season.
Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of Live Nation, is rolling out its NFT expansion in partnership with Dapper Labs on the Flow blockchain. Event organisers can issue NFTs before, during and after the event.
The NFTs are not tickets to the events as they will primarily serve as memorabilia and proof of attendance, especially when they can be minted during and after the event, meaning that attendees would still have to purchase a physical ticket beforehand. The NFTs can also unlock rewards and exclusive experiences like meet-and-greets.
Last November, Ticketmaster initially partnered with Polygon for NFTs. The company then teamed up with Dapper Labs six months ago to launch an NFT pilot program to automatically issue NFTs to attendees of NFL and this year’s Super Bowl LVI. More than five million NFTs were minted over the six-month period.
Ticketmaster is extending its partnership with NFL this season to issue NFTs to attendees of 100 select games, including three home games for all 32 teams. The ticketing company has added a wallet and marketplace to its website, allowing holders to view and trade their NFTs.
“Event organizers who choose to offer fans an NFT with their ticket have a real opportunity to make this new technology relevant and relatable at scale. This is why we are partnering with Flow, because their blockchain is custom-built for fan engagement and frictionless consumer experiences,” Brendan Lynch, Ticketmaster EVP of Enterprise & Revenue, said in a statement.
Mickey Maher, Dapper Labs’ SVP of partnerships, told Decrypt that he doesn’t have a strong stance on whether all tickets should be NFTs, saying that data and user behaviour will show that.
Best known as the creator of NBA Top Shot, a platform for officially licensed basketball NFTs, Dapper Labs also partnered with Real Madrid to issue NFTs last year. The Australian Football League (AFL), the Italian Serie A, and the Spanish La Liga have also issued NFTs on the Flow blockchain.
While it hasn’t issued NFT tickets yet, Ticketmaster has been posting LinkedIn job ads seeking product managers for NFT ticketing tooling and NFT ticketing integrations. NFT ticketing is becoming a solid use case for non-fungible tokens as it can help prevent counterfeiting and scalping. To serve that purpose, Binance partnered with Italian football team, Lazio, to pilot its new NFT ticketing solution in July.
Prior to that, platforms such as GUTS, YellowHeart, Wicket and GET Protocol are already trying to solve the problems surrounding event ticketing. GET provides an infrastructure with blockchain and NFT integration to ticketing platforms. Every NFT ticket is issued on-chain with clear, verifiable data which can be checked using the GET explorer.
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