Paciolan to acquire TicketsWest, WestCoast Entertainment
US ticketing platform Paciolan, itself acquired by sports marketing agency Learfield in June, has announced it is to buy TicketsWest and Broadway show producer WestCoast Entertainment from hotel operator RLH Corporation.
The acquisition, says Paciolan, will enable “TicketsWest to continue to leverage its client-centric, full-service philosophy with a true powerhouse in ticketing, marketing, fundraising and analytics”, while Denver-based RLH (Red Lion Hotels) Corporation, which established TicketsWest as G&B Select-a-Seat in 1987, will refocus on its “core business”.
Dusty Kurtz, who took over as president of TicketsWest in April, will continue to lead the company under Paciolan/Learfield ownership, while Jack Lucas remains president of WestCoast Entertainment.
Paciolan is the second-largest primary ticketing provider in North America, offering white-label ticketing and marketing services to more than 500 live entertainment organisations, 75 performing-arts venues and 100+ professional sports teams and arenas.
“This is an excellent deal for both TicketsWest and RLH Corporation”
“This is an excellent deal for both TicketsWest and RLH Corporation,” comments RLH Corporation president and CEO Greg Mount. “It will provide alignment and synergies to TicketsWest clients and the industry, as well as opportunities to continue growing, while allowing RLH Corporation to focus solely on its family of hotel brands, which has expanded to 13 brands and over 1,100 properties.”
“We are thrilled to add TicketsWest and WestCoast Entertainment as members of the Paciolan family,” adds Paciolan president and COO Kim Damron (pictured).
“As a longtime partner with TicketsWest, we have great respect for their fantastic leadership team and staff who have earned an incredible reputation for delivering excellence in ticketing and marketing services to their clients.”
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Dusty Kurtz takes over as TicketsWest president
Jack Lucas, the founder and long-serving president of independent US ticket agency TicketsWest, has stepped down after 30 years at the helm.
Replacing him is Dusty Kurtz, who has been with the Spokane, Washington-based company since 2006, most recently as vice-president.
Lucas remains as president of WestCoast Entertainment, which promotes broadway shows across north-western America.
“When we started TicketsWest in 1987, we had a goal to be the best ticketing company that we could be,” Lucas wrote in an email to industry colleagues, seen by IAVM. “As I now reflect back on 30 years, and realise the significance of where we started and where we are currently at in our history, I am thankful for the many team members, both current and those in the past, that have helped to make TicketsWest into a national brand, and one of the premiere full-service/full-enterprise ticketing solutions in the United States.
“I am thankful for the many team members who helped make TicketsWest into … one of the premiere full-service ticketing solutions in the US”
“I am so fortunate that for the past 30 years I have had the great joy of being part of this history. To this day, I still enjoy and look forward to walking through the front door each and every day. I must confess, after 30 years I still love what I do, and still have a passion for my work.
“But after 30 years, there comes a time when you have to pass the torch on to someone else, and let them lead and create the vision for the next 30 years. I have finally made that decision.
“Dusty has had a great career with TicketsWest and has worked alongside me as my vice-president for the past several years. I can state without reservation that Dusty is ready to take TicketsWest to the next level. Dusty is ready to create the vision and the strategy to position TicketsWest for the future. There isn’t anyone that I would want to have lead TicketsWest than Dusty Kurtz. He is honest, forthright, a hard worker and provides all of the skills and experience needed to lead TicketsWest.”
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