Leading Swiss ticketing firm Ticketcorner has appointed Oliver Niedermann as the new CEO.

Niedermann joins the company from Raiffeisen Switzerland, the third-largest Swiss banking group, where he has been head of marketing for the past ten years.

At Ticketcorner, he will succeed Andreas Angehrn, who has played a major role in the company’s success in Switzerland since 2010. Angehrn will leave the company at the end of June.

Ticketcorner AG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ticketcorner Holding AG, which has been owned in equal shares by CTS Eventim and Ringier since 2010.

Ticketcorner processes more than 10 million ticket sales for 15,000 events per year

Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, chair of the Ticketcorner board of directors and CEO of Eventim Management, says: “We are pleased to have gained a highly qualified marketing and events expert in Niedermann, who will further expand Ticketcorner’s leading position. He brings with him the very best professional prerequisites to gain an even stronger foothold in the Swiss market and make our offer even more attractive to our customers.”

Marc Walder, vice-chair of the Ticketcorner board of directors and CEO of Ringier, added: “I look forward to working with Niedermann and continuing the Ticketcorner success story. The ticketing and events industry is still transforming at a rapid pace, and we are faced with many challenges. With Oliver, we will continue to strengthen the company’s leading position with innovative, smart applications and an attractive offer that meets the needs of Swiss customers.”

Ticketcorner processes more than 10 million ticket sales for 15,000 events per year. In addition to events in the entertainment, culture and sports sectors, this also includes the sale of ski tickets for about 60 ski resorts. The ticketing platform has 200 booking offices throughout Switzerland.

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Swiss ticketing platform Ticketcorner has launched its face-value Fansale platform, offering fans a separate, secure ticket resale platform.

CTS Eventim-owned Ticketcorner first announced the launch of its Fansale platform in December, having launched in the UK a year before. The ticketing company states that all tickets on the site, which goes live today, are legitimate, easy to handle and sold at a fair price.

“I’m glad that we have Fansale now to offer a reputable platform for the fair and secure resale of tickets”, says Andreas Angehrn, chief executive of Ticketcorner. “If you are unable to attend a show or if you’re looking for a ticket to a sold out event, you can buy or sell tickets via fansale.ch.”

Every ticket offered on Fansale is first subject to a verification process. Once passed, it receives a ‘Ticketcheck’, Ticketcorner’s official seal of approval.

Currently, customers cannot buy or sell tickets through the platform from providers other than Ticketcorner, due to the complexities of verifying tickets from different systems. However, Ticketcorner states it does not rule out future collaborations with other ticketing providers.

“Fansale is not designed to pursue a commercial purpose”

The pricing of tickets on Fansale corresponds to the original ticket price, with an additional fee to cover expenses. “Fansale is not designed to pursue a commercial purpose,” comments Angehrn.

To prevent transactions for profit at Fansale, resales are limited to a certain number of tickets per person. Ticketcorner customers do not need a separate login to access Fansale.

Fansale is the latest effort by Ticketcorner to support fair ticketing. The Swiss ticketer offers advice on its website on how customers can avoid ticket fraud, a growing problem in the live events market.

The company also participates in the information campaign “Ticket Check”, ran by the Romande Consumer Federation (Frc), French-speaking Switzerland’s consumer protection organisation.

According to IQ’s International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, CTS Eventim still dominates the Swiss market with Ticketcorner, although headway has been made rival ticketer Starticket in recent years. Eventim attempted to acquire Starticket last year in a move later refused by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission.

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Switzerland’s leading ticketing platform, Ticketcorner, has become the latest ticket seller to announce the launch of a face-value resale platform.

FanSALE will launch in spring 2019 , and sees Ticketcorner “taking a stand against the dishonest secondary market and exaggerated resale prices”, says the CTS Eventim-owned company.

FanSALE has long been active in Eventim’s home country, Germany, and launched in the UK in January this year. On launch, the Swiss site will be located at fansale.ch, which currently redirects to the German fanSALE.

While fanSALE UK allows resale prices of up to 10% above face value, tickets may only be listed on fanSALE Switzerland for the original price, with Ticketcorner charging a fee to buyers.

“FanSALE has no commercial purpose. “We’re doing this is to stop the dishonest practices of the secondary market”

In addition to fanSALE UK, the launch of fanSALE in Switzerland follows that of See Tickets’ Fan-to-Fan, AXS’s Marketplace and, most recently, Ticketmaster’s new ticket exchange, as well as the soon-to-launch Ticketek Marketplace in Australia.

“Our new platform, fanSALE, has no commercial purpose,” says Andreas Angehrn, CEO of Ticketcorner. “The reason we’re doing this is to stop the dishonest practices of the secondary market, to guarantee the authenticity of the tickets to our customers and make sure they get a fair deal.

“In the coming years, we intend to establish fanSALE as the leading, and also the fairest, secondary market ticketing platform in Switzerland.”

According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, Ticketcorner is the largest entertainment ticket seller in Switzerland, with Starticket (recently the target of an unsuccessful takeover bid by Ticketcorner) second and Ticketmaster Switzerland third.

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Ticketmaster is to launch in Switzerland via a strategic partnership with local company Tixtec.

The Live Nation-owned ticketer established a Swiss operation, Ticketmaster Switzerland GmbH, last June, prompting speculation it had set its sights on one of the world’s biggest live music markets, although Ticketmaster at the time declined to elaborate on its plans. In a statement released today, the company says it sees Switzerland as a “key market with a growing live entertainment business and significant venues”.

Will Switzerland be country #22 for Ticketmaster?

The strategic partnership sees Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing company, expand its reach to 30 countries worldwide.

George Egloff, CEO of Tixtec, comments: “Ticketmaster is the global leader in ticketing, and to be part of the team that is bringing its technology and service to Switzerland is truly an honour. The collaboration represents a huge milestone in live entertainment, and will significantly benefit Swiss fans, venues, sports clubs and event organisers alike.”

“We are excited to bring Ticketmaster to Swiss fans, introducing greater levels of service and choice in the ticketing sector in Switzerland and providing fans seamless access to our worldwide marketplace of events,” adds Mark Yovich, president of Ticketmaster International. “Working with George Egloff and his team brings together our global experience with his invaluable understanding of the Swiss ticketing and live entertainment sector.”

A planned merger of Switzerland’s two current leading ticket agencies, Starticket and Ticketcorner, was in May blocked by the Federal Competition Commission.

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The Swiss Federal Competition Commission has refused to sanction the agreed merger of Switzerland’s two largest ticket agencies, Starticket and Ticketcorner.

Ticketcorner – jointly owned by CTS Eventim and Zurich-based conglomerate Ringier – and Starticket – a division of mass-media giant Tamedia – announced their intention to merge last November, five months after the registration of Ticketmaster Switzerland GmbH by Live Nation Luxembourg, which sparked rumours of a local launch of Ticketmaster.

The Federal Competition Commission (Wettbewerbskommission, Weko) began investigating the merger in February, saying it had found evidence of “the creation or strengthening of a dominant market position” in the Swiss ticketing market.

Announcing its decision yesterday, Weko said the new company would have constituted a monopoly, gaining an “increasingly dominant position” for ticket sales in Switzerland.

“The proposed merger would allow the two companies to control the Swiss market … and eliminate effective competition”

“The proposed merger would allow the two companies to control the Swiss market for third-party sales of tickets and eliminate effective competition,” reads a statement. “In addition, the companies’ links with two large media groups, Ringier and Tamedia, would have strengthened the position of the new company in the market (conglomerate effects).”

A statement from Tamedia says the company “regrets the decision” and reserves the right to take legal action.

“The rejection of the merger by the Competition Commission fails to recognise the dynamic development taking place in the ticketing market and weakens Swiss suppliers in international competition,” it says.

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The Swiss Competition Commission (Wettbewerbskommission, Weko) is to investigate the merger of the country’s leading ticket agencies, Ticketcorner and Starticket, over concerns the combined company would have a monopoly on ticketing in Switzerland.

Ticketcorner and Starticket, which between them control around 85% of the live entertainment ticket market, announced their intention to merge in November, with 75% of the shares in the new operation held by Ticketcorner’s parent companies, CTS Eventim and Ringier, and 25% by Starticket parent Tamedia.

“Weko will consider what consequences the proposed merger will have on competition”

“Following a preliminary examination,” says a statement from the commission, “Weko has found evidence of the creation or strengthening of a dominant market position, in particular in the distribution of tickets to third parties and software solutions offered to event promoters. For this reason, Weko will consider what consequences the proposed merger will have on competition.”

The commission adds its investigation will be concluded by 13 June.

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