Who is Matchroom Boxing's new ticketing partner Stage Front?
Matchroom Boxing have announced a global partnership with a new ticketing partner. The new ticketing partner for the global boxing promotion is a company called Stage Front.
Stage Front has existed as a company since 1984. They advertise themselves as ticketing resellers who sell tickets above face value. Matchroom Boxing have partnered with ticketing resellers in the past. Their previous partner was the controversial StubHub.
The business model for ticket reselling companies like StubHub and Stage Front allows fans to purchase tickets and resell them at a price that they choose. Professional re-sellers like these platforms are also able to bulk buy tickets for an event and sell them at an inflated price. Thus, fans are forced to pay above face-value for tickets.
Some have however defended secondary market ticketing websites. An official partnership with a reseller website allows fans to be sure that the resale tickets that they are purchasing are genuine. Resale tickets are already expensive, and many fans have been ripped off after receiving fake tickets in the past.
Matchroom Boxing often came under fire for partnering with StubHub. Throughout the partnership, Eddie Hearn would have to deal with questions from reporters wherein he would have to defend the ticketing mega-company.
Watch Eddie Hearn talk about StubHub and the resale market:
In 2018, British Parliament introduced legislation to counter the actions of ticketing resale companies. The Consumer and Markets Authority in the UK continues to investigate secondary market ticketing websites and make recommendations to the government.
In a press release to announce the new deal, Eddie Hearn said:
“We are always looking to improve the fan experience at our events and this partnership with ticketing technology leader Stage Front will allow us to push the innovation to another level.”
As soon as the news was announced, many fans did not react well. One reply to the announcement has more likes than the original tweet. It focused on the About Us section of Stage Front’s website.
@MatchroomBoxing @StageFrontTix These are actual words from the Stage Front website. Their actual words.
"Ticket prices are dependent upon the current market price, which is usually above the face value printed on the tickets"
Great to see you partnering with a fans-first company like this 👊 https://t.co/9kKDIZjcpo
Stage Front are also set to introduce aspects that are new to Matchroom Boxing
One of the items mentioned in the press release is the use of NFTs. Whilst relatively new to the boxing world, it would not be the first time that NFTs are associated with boxing tickets.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Don Moore was scheduled to be the first NFT PPV. Holders of NFT tickets for the bout were entitled to exclusive backstage access and exclusive fight footage. Tickets for the event as well as PPV purchases were both delivered via NFT.
Matchroom Boxing have also claimed that they will enter the metaverse. The metaverse is a digital 3D world in which the holders of an NFT can enter. Floyd Mayweather has introduced his own 'Mayweverse' wherein fans can enter the Mayweather gym.
The two companies have not announced any further details about the utilization of NFTs and the metaverse.