Reach out. Stand out. Sell out.
October 22nd, 2012
London, October 22nd, 2012
THE O2 LAUNCHES AEG’S NEW TICKETING PLATFORM, AXS.COM, WITH GIRLS ALOUD’S FIRST LONDON SHOWS IN THREE YEARS
The O2 have announced that their new fan-friendly and innovative ticketing platform AXS.com, will officially launch with the long awaited Girls Aloud reunion – one of the first shows to use the new ticketing system developed by The O2’s owners AEG.
Girls Aloud announced their two-night run at The O2 arena for March 2013 at a glitzy press conference on Friday at The Corinthia Hotel.
With innovative new technology, AXS is set to transform the fan’s ticket buying experience by saving time and providing groundbreaking benefits never before available to gig-goers.
Among the innovations ticket buyers will find with AXS.com are:
AXS Invite™ helps fans reserve adjacent seats for friends so that they can all sit together. Once the seats are reserved, buyers can then invite their friends to buy the nearby seats via Facebook or email helping groups who want to sit together while avoiding anyone having to pay upfront for all of the seats.
AXS Waiting Room ™ opens shortly before a public on-sale, will give fans greater visibility into the buying process by displaying event details, pricing and ticket information and, will shorten the time it takes to buy a ticket, allowing buyers to enter their payment details and view available seats before general tickets go on sale.
In a departure from the industry standard, AXS offers free print at home. Fans in the UK will not be charged any fee for printing at home for tickets purchased thru AXS.com.
Speaking today at their press conference Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud said, “Our fans mean the world to us and using AXS to purchase their tickets for The O2 shows means that they will all have equal chance to get tickets to see what will be a very special show”.
After AXS saw a successful rollout at venues throughout the US arenas, The O2 in London will now be powered by AXS.com Dean DeWulf, Vice President AXS Europe, said, “We are truly changing the way people buy tickets. We believe buying a ticket to see your favourite artist should be simple, convenient, social and fair. AXS.com is built around the fan.”
Rebecca Kane, General Manager of The O2 Arena, added, “The O2 prides itself on providing the very best entertainment experience, so we are naturally very excited about the introduction of AXS.com for The O2 and the 2 million regular ticket buyers who choose to visit us every year.”
Record of the Day
October 12th, 2012
AEG introduces AXS INVITE SOCIAL TICKETING TOOL of AXS ticketing
New Feature Introduced by AEG, in Cooperation with Outbox Technology, Allows Event Goers to Reserve Adjacent Seats and Invite Friends to Purchase Separately
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 12, 2012) – Launched just a year ago to create a true fan-friendly ticketing experience, AXS Ticketing introduces a new advancement that brings people together and takes the middle-man out of buying tickets as a group – AXS Invite. An innovative experience that infuses online ticketing with the power of Facebook, AXS Invite allows fans, for the first time ever, to buy tickets and reserve adjacent seats for their friends, which can be purchased separately. The social ticketing process is easy and keeps friends sitting together during the show/game/performance.
“This is a situation everyone can relate to – you want to go to a concert, show or sporting event with your friends, but you don’t want to pay for everyone’s tickets upfront and worry about collecting the money,” said Tom Andrus, SVP and GM of AXS.com. “AXS Invite takes out the middle-man and allows groups to reserve seats and pay individually through AXS.com. By simplifying the group ticket-buying experience, any risk or stress is essentially eliminated.”
AXS Invite empowers fans to reserve adjacent tickets for friends so they can all sit together without one person fronting the cost for the whole group. Through an easy one-step invitation process, friends can decide whether or not they would like to attend the event, then purchase and receive their own tickets. The process makes it easy for groups to attend events.
AXS Invite will be activated within 48 hours of an on-sale.
An easy-to-use social tool, AXS Invite can be utilized through a few simple steps.
“We’re bringing innovation back to ticketing” added Andrus. “AXS Invite will change the way people look at group ticketing by making it more consumer friendly. We’re trying to streamline the ticketing process as much as possible through the features we are rolling out with AXS Ticketing.”
AXS Invite is the first of many features that will be rolled out in the coming months to bolster new ticketing platform – AXS Ticketing. Created by AEG, one of the world’s leading entertainment and sports presenters, is the first phase of AXS, a new platform that will leverage AEG’s facilities and music, sports, and entertainment properties in an effort to redefine the live event consumer experience – from access to ticketing to digital engagement and multi-platform content distribution.
After introducing AXS Ticketing (available online at AXS.com and on each venue’s website, leveraging Outbox ticketing technology) in August 2011, the platform is currently being used for venues in nine markets, including Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Minnesota, Ontario, San Francisco, Saratoga and Seattle. In the coming weeks, AXS will launch the ticketing service at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. And The O2 Arena in London, the world’s top-selling concert arena, followed by additional venues such as the STAPLES Center in the first quarter of 2013.
About AXS
Developed and operated by AEG, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, AXS is a new entertainment platform and will serve as AEG’s primary consumer brand. The first phase of AXS, AXS ticketing, was created in cooperation with Outbox Technology and will provide fans the opportunity to purchase tickets directly from their favorite venues. Additional elements will include a mobile service launching later this year and a video content service that is now in development.
About AEG
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 100 of the world’s preeminent facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), The Home Depot Center (Carson, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), MasterCard Center (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Allphones Arena (Sydney, Australia), Ericsson Globe arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World arena (Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England) which are all part of the portfolio of AEG Facilities.. Developed by AEG,L.A. LIVE is a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtownLos Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention “headquarters” destination along with entertainment, restaurant and office space that “officially” opened in 2010.
In addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), assets of AEG Sports include franchises and properties such as the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo (MLS), two hockey franchises in Europe, the Amgen Tour of California cycling race and Bay to Breakers foot race. AEG Live, the company’s live-entertainment division, is the world’s second largest concert promotion and touring companies and is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions with fifteen regional offices. AEG Global Partnerships, a division responsible for worldwide sales and servicing of sponsorships naming rights and other strategic partnerships and AEG Merchandising, a multi-faceted merchandising company are also core business units of AEG. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry’s first sustainability report while in 2011, AEG introduced AXS Ticketing, the first phase of its new entertainment platform serving as the company’s primary consumer brand which will also feature a mobile service as well as a video content service now in development.
January 6th, 2012
KANSAS CITY (Jan. 6, 2012) –Sprint Center will kick off the New Year by unveiling all-new ticketing platform axs.com with the confirmation of two shows by top international artists. AEG, one of the world’s leading entertainment and sports presenters, introduced the beta version of its axs Ticketing in August 2011 and now brings the user-friendly ticketing and entertainment platform to Kansas City. axs Ticketing is the first phase of axs, a new platform that will leverage AEG’s facilities and music, sports, and entertainment properties in an effort to redefine the live event consumer experience – from access to ticketing to digital engagement and multi-platform content distribution.
Sprint Center, which becomes AEG’s first arena to switch to axs Ticketing, will roll out the axs service when tickets go on sale for upcoming shows on Friday, Jan. 13.
axs.com will open a virtual waiting room shortly before the public on-sale, giving consumers visibility into the buying process. Ticket buyers can log onto axs.com and click the purchase link for the show to enter the waiting room, where they will be able to view event details, pricing and ticket information. Customers also will have the opportunity to enter their billing information to save time once the on-sale goes live, as well as view available seats.
Beginning with the on-sales for Lady Antebellum, Drake, Creed and The Unexpected Arrival of Diggy, all events at Sprint Center and The Midland by AMC moving forward will be on the axs Ticketing system. The online launch in Kansas City follows the service’s overwhelmingly successful debut in Denver at The Ogden Theatre and The Bluebird Theatre. A trio of successful launches in San Francisco, Seattle and Dallas followed the debut.
“We’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response to last year’s launch of the axs service,” said Todd Sims, AEG’s senior vice president, digital. “The next 12 months will see many new innovations and additions to the service. Starting in Kansas City with four blockbuster acts, and with our first arena to switch to axs Ticketing, is a great way to usher in the new year.”
“Outbox is pleased to provide the core technology that will enable Sprint Center to be the first of AEG’s network of arenas to convert to axs Ticketing,” said Fredric D. Rosen, Co-CEO of Outbox Enterprises. “Like the venues that have already had such seamless and successful transitions, Sprint Center’s ability to interact with the public thru their own branded websites, while retaining all the data received, is one of the most important elements that axs Ticketing with Outbox’s support brings to our clients.”
The axs ticketing platform was built in partnership with Outbox Enterprises, in which AEG is both an equity partner and a client. The white label technology developed by Outbox enables facilities to sell tickets under both the axs brand and each individual venue’s brand, empowering local venues to connect directly with fans while providing centralized CRM services and core ticketing technologies.
