Neon delivers powerful alternative to “chaos” of ticket touting

As research suggests fans continue to lose out to touts and bots selling a huge amount of tickets to the most popular music, theatre, and sporting events, the launch of innovative platform Neon is offering an alternative. Set to become the go to place for purchasing tickets to sell out events, Neon is revolutionising the market by connecting buyers, sellers, venues, and promoters.

A Which?1 investigation found that as many as one in four tickets to the most in demand events were listed on reselling sites as soon as they went on sale. From comedian Jack Whitehall and popstar Lady Gaga to the opening night of the BBC Proms, no genre of major event is immune from ticket touts. Worryingly, almost half of people using reselling sites have been faced with issues and many didn’t even know they weren’t buying from an official source. Tickets purchased on the secondary market are generally sold at significantly above their face value, meaning fans pay out more, whilst their authenticity is often hard to prove, meaning buyers take a huge and expensive gamble.

Dan Eastmond, CEO and Founder of Neon, said, “Ticket touting is the bane of the entertainment industry, it stops genuine fans from seeing the performance they want and leaves venues blind to who their customers really are. With a patchwork of industry standards in place across the secondary market, those purchasing tickets have no guarantee that their ticket is genuine or that they’re getting the best price. It’s chaos right now. Neon works directly with the official venues and promoters to ensure that fans can trust every ticket that’s listed, and avoid the nail-biting wait they endure on other platforms.”

Effortlessly merging with existing systems, Neon has already attracted interest from some of the UK’s leading venues such as The Royal Opera House, with more partnerships set to be announced in the coming months. Providing a reliable, simple connection point for the players within the secondary market, Neon aims to overhaul the way the sector operates and stamp out ticket touting.

With a strong background in the entertainment sector, Eastmond has built a platform that’s considered venues and their integration challenges. Having previously managed a number of entertainment venues, including The Jazz Café, Number10, and The Firestation, he has a deep understanding of the obstacles venues and promoters face with the secondary market. The result is a platform that not only provides an effective solution but one that is simple to use for both businesses and fans, earning it R&D support from Nesta and the Arts Council.

To find out more visit neon.live