Barclays Center Dumps Ticketmaster Like Last Season's Sneakers
KEY POINTS
- â˘In April 2021, BSE Global CEO John Abbamondi considered bids to replace Ticketmaster at Barclays Center.
- â˘Ticketmasterâs offer was financially worse and technologically inferior compared to SeatGeek and AXS.
- â˘By the end of September 2021, Barclays Center chose SeatGeek for better financial terms and superior technology.
Back in April 2021, John Abbamondi, then CEO of BSE Global (owner of the Barclays Center), had the delightful task of telling Ticketmaster they were about to get ghosted come September. Despite Ticketmasterâs decades-long reign on the arenaâs e-ticketing throne, their latest bid was 'nowhere near as good' as SeatGeek and AXSâs offers. SeatGeek wasnât just bringing better bank termsâwith an enticing equity stakeâbut had tech sharp enough to make Ticketmasterâs system look like a rotary phone. So Barclays said thanks, but no thanks, choosing shiny new SeatGeek over the old guard for a contract that expired September 2021. Cue Ticketmaster tweets of heartbreak.
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(1 of 3)Nothing screams âbusiness as usualâ like execs letting Ticketmaster down gently after making their wallet do the walking to SeatGeek.
Ticketmaster losing Barclays is like your grandma switching from a flip phone to the cloudâpainful but inevitable.
Evaluating ticketing contracts with better tech and equity sounds innocent until you realize it's just modern corporate ghosting.
Source: Theverge | Published: 3/5/2026 | Author: Lauren Feiner
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