Ticket scalping has long been a problem here in Australia across a variety of industries, and today, Ticketmaster have announced their plans for new technology that could leave ticket scalpers in the dust.
They’ll be bringing their Safetix technology into the Australian market, meaning that tickets will now be digital, with the barcode on the ticket changing every 15 seconds, making it impossible for ticket scalpers to sell the same seat multiple times.
These digital tickets are set to be trialling at AFL games taking place at both Marvel Stadium and Perth Stadium. According to the Herald Sun, ticket holders will simply tap into the stadium using their smartphone as they pass through the turnstiles as they enter the venue.
Ticketmaster’s chief product officer Justin Berleigh told the Herald Sun, “We’ve designed this thing out of the gate to scale to the largest venues in the ecosystem, and the AFL certainly falls into that category.”
Safetix is already being implemented in the US, and is set to be used in 28 out of 32 NFL stadiums in use this season. It’s expected to be implemented here in Australia some time early next year.
Fans will still be able to transfer tickets to friends with the new technology. However, once the digital ticket is passed on, the old one will become invalid.
This news comes after Google recently announced they would be indefinitely barring controversial ticketing site Viagogo from advertising with the search engine.
Let’s hope that we can say goodbye to scalpers forever.
