Ticketmaster to offer tie-ups for sponsors
Ticketmaster, the telephone ticket sales company, is planning to sell sponsorship packages which will allow sponsors a presence in top UK venues.
Shows like Les Miserables, the heart-rending tale of a 19th century convict made good, could be sponsored by the French Tourist Board, while Sunset Boulevard’s story of a faded movie star might be signed up by Kodak if the medium takes off.
The packages would allow sponsors a presence in the Adelphi and Palace theatres in London’s West End, where these shows are running.
The company is also offering deals for the other venues it sells tickets for, including Ascot, The Chelsea Flower Show, Arsenal FC’s football ground, and the Test and County Cricket Board.
As well as a venue presence, sponsorship packages will include endorsements from its telephone operators, on-ticket branding, inserts into ticket wallets and ads in Ticketmasters’ entertainment guides.
The company handles 12 million tickets a year. Its third-party sponsorship programme is an initiative of marketing director Kate Hampton, former marketing head of the ITV Network Centre.
“Sponsors will be able to lock directly into the loyalty and interest of active and high-spending consumers who are going out to be entertained,” says a spokesman for Ticketmaster.
