Blockbuster Stores to Sell Live Nation Concert Tickets

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 2, 2008 - 11:03am.

Dallas - Video rental giant Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) announced on Tuesday that it has signed a three-year deal with concert promoter and venue owner Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), to serve as the exclusive physical retail ticketing outlet for the company's new in-house ticketing company. Under the agreement, Live Nation will sell tickets to concerts and other events at approximately 500 Blockbuster company-owned stores "in strategically chosen markets across the country that mirror Live Nation's concert venue platform footprint."

The stores will offer exclusive blocks of tickets, to be made available during the first four hours of ticket sales, as well as general ticketing as long as supplies last.

"The fan who buys his ticket offline has a lot of demographic overlap with the consumer who rents his DVD offline," Live Nation Ticketing CEO Nathan Hubbard told Reuters.

"On top of that, you've got now in Blockbuster a brand that has almost 100 percent awareness nationwide ... so it's a more efficient marketing opportunity."

Live Nation, which owns or operates more than 100 venues in the U.S. and abroad, announced its plans to abandon Ticketmaster and launch its own ticketing service a year ago.