Ex-Ticketscript chief to lead SeatGeek’s primary biz

SeatGeek has hired Charlie Sefi as managing director, EMEA entertainment, for its SeatGeek Enterprise primary ticketing platform.

Working out of US-based SeatGeek’s London office, Sefi will oversee the sales, implementation and support teams for SeatGeek Enterprises’s UK and European entertainment clients.

Sefi joins SeatGeek from online restaurant reservation start-up Resy, which was recently acquired by American Express. Prior to joining Resy, he was Ticketscript’s managing director in the UK and Ireland, leaving shortly after the company’s 2017 acquisition by Eventbrite, and was also a founding director of last-minute event discovery service YPlan, which was bought by Time Out in late 2016.

“We’re thrilled to have Charlie join us in London to continue the momentum the team has worked so hard to build,” comments James McClure, SeatGeek’s GM, international, who joined the company from Airbnb last summer. “Our team is investing into UK entertainment as there is a lot of room for us to thrive. Charlie’s experience across high-growth SaaS [software-as-a-service], ticketing and consumer start-ups makes him uniquely qualified to take on this position.”

“Our team is investing into UK entertainment as there is a lot of room for us to thrive”

SeatGeek, formerly a secondary ticketing platform, entered the primary market in summer 2016 via a strategic partnership with software company TopTix. Its first primary client was Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest-level football league in the US.

The company later acquired TopTix and its SRO⁴ box-office solution outright, and now counts venues including the Concertgebouw (1,974-cap.) in Amsterdam, the Theatre Royal (847-cap.) in York and several West End theatres, including the English National Opera at London Coliseum (2,359-cap.) – and sporting organisations such as the Dallas Cowboys, Royal Dutch Football Association, Sporting Kansas City, Leicester City FC, Los Angeles FC and Premier League champions Manchester City FC – among its SeatGeek Enterprise clients.

It opened an Italian office just before Christmas 2018.

“This is an exciting time for SeatGeek and the industry and I’m happy to be part of this team,” says Charlie Sefi, commenting on his appointment. “We see an opportunity to improve the ticketing experience in the entertainment space for both consumers and clients. The SeatGeek Enterprise team has grown successfully so quickly with clients that love the product and team.

“I’m happy to be part of the next chapter as we continue to expand the business globally.”

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