Ticket Resale Industry Protects Consumers With Fair Market Prices and Secure Transactions

Free Market Dynamics Drive 40% of Tickets to Be Priced Below Face Value

VERNON, CT--(Marketwire - February 4, 2009) - TicketNetwork.com, the leading source for the ticket industry's most comprehensive inventory for ticket buyers and sellers, announced today the ticket resale industry is an integral part of free-market consumption of tickets to concerts, theater and sports venues. Recent ticket marketplace changes dictate that further regulated scrutiny of ownership patterns, monopolies and conflicts of interest must be top of mind among industry watchers if the market is to maintain fair pricing for consumers.

In recent months, several states have deregulated ticket resale laws based on free-market principles that support competition as a necessary component for price regulation in the consumer's favor. The presence of the ticket resale market has proven its role in price regulation, enabling consumer access to more than 40% of event tickets at prices below face value. Consequently, large ticket and entertainment companies are repositioning their business growth strategies to gain a larger section of the secondary market.

Forrester estimates that U.S. online secondary ticket sales will grow at a 12% over the next five years, reaching $4.5 billion by 2012; this represents an incremental 20% to the $22 billion in primary ticket sales already transacted by the U.S. live music and sporting event industries.

"The ticket industry is at risk for reduced competition as traditional primary ticket companies are delving further into the lion's share of the growing secondary ticket sector," said Don Vaccaro, CEO, TicketNetwork.com. "Free-market dynamics are essential to maintaining fair consumer pricing. Actions that could potentially limit competition in the market and place consumers at risk, merits regulatory scrutiny."

TicketNetwork offers ticket buyers and ticket sellers the industry's most secure access to over $1B worth of inventory to a range of concert, sporting, and theatre events through our vast network of websites. The company recently achieved Extended Validation (EVSSL) status, the premiere security certification enabling the encryption of consumer information that prevents online fraud and provides complete security of consumer information. TicketNetwork ensures that consumers purchase the most competitively priced tickets to sought after events, protecting them from fixed, inflated pricing.

For ticket purchases to any concert, sporting, or theater event, TicketNetwork issues the following recommendations to its customers:
(1) Buy your tickets from a reputable distributor. If you opt to purchase your tickets from an unknown vendor, be sure to research customer reviews and/or call their customer service line to get a sense of their level of service. Any reputable vendor should provide customer service Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at minimum. The TicketNetwork customer service center is open seven days a week from 7 a.m.-1 a.m.

(2) Confirm the website check-out is secure. It is not enough for an online retailer to "say" their website is secure -- it needs to be certified by an approved scanning vendor (ASV). TicketNetwork, for example, is certified by ControlScan. In addition, it has added EVSSL (Extended Validation Secure Socket Layer) check-out security. You know a site is EVSSL secure when the URL bar at the top turns GREEN.

(3) Always check the purchase guarantee. Any online purchase, from a toaster to a car, has some type of purchase guarantee. While it may seem tedious, it is in every shopper's interest to read the fine print. When purchasing tickets through TicketNetwork.com, customers are guaranteed a 100% refund in the event the requested seats are no longer available.

About TicketNetwork.com
TicketNetwork is the leading source for event tickets and innovative technology solutions for both ticket buyers and sellers. With a comprehensive selection of more than $1B in real-time ticket inventory, TicketNetwork provides sought-after tickets to concert, sporting, and theater events worldwide. TicketNetwork's signature Point-of-Sale software powers real-time ticketing transactions for both B2B and B2C, making it the leading innovative software platform in the secondary ticketing industry. The company's signature retail website www.TicketNetwork.com is both Payment Card Industry (PCI) and EVSSL-certified, making it the leading secure site for tickets in the secondary market. The company is a Ticket Software, LLC property and is parent company of: TicketLiquidator.com, TicketNetwork Direct, Ticket News, Ticket Summit, and TicketNetwork Point-of-Sale™ solutions. TicketNetwork was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Vernon, Connecticut.