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Gametime’s LastCall lets you buy cheap tickets once sports events or concerts start

Gametime can get you tickets at cheaper prices after events start.
Gametime can get you tickets at cheaper prices after events start.
Image Credit: Gametime

Gametime is targeting last-minute fans. Today the company is introducing LastCall, a new way to get into live events up to 90 minutes after the start.

The ticketing company has sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of tickets to date through its mobile-first platform, which enables people to buy and sell tickets to sports, concerts, theater, and more in just seconds.

To continue scaling the company,  Michael Kunde, a former executive at Spring Education Group, Electronics Arts, and Gap, has joined the company as chief financial officer.

As younger generations continue to opt for experiences over material things, Gametime wants to find easier and faster way to get into live events. With 60 percent of all Gametime purchases happening within 36 hours of an event, the demand for last-minute tickets is clear. As this behavior grows, the company sees LastCall as an answer to its fans’ spontaneous lifestyle.

Above: Typical event price patterns.

Image Credit: Gametime

In 2018, the top 100 music tours saw an 11 percent decrease in ticket sales. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball (MLB) saw a four percent decline in attendance and the National Football League (NFL) saw its lowest regular-season attendance since 2011. Unsold seats leave over $1 million on the table per game for professional sports teams. LastCall fills these unsold seats by making it seamless to get into an event once it’s begun.

“Value is a major consideration for fans who want to attend an event, especially younger fans who make up Gametime’s core user base,” said Gametime CEO and founder Brad Griffith, in a statement. “LastCall helps fans efficiently use their limited time and take advantage of decreasing prices to enjoy the connection of the in-person atmosphere that only a live event can offer.”

Gametime surveyed both Gametime and non-Gametime event-goers and uncovered a new trend: getting tickets to an event after it’s started. Of the 287 respondents, 27 percent had purchased tickets after an event’s start time, 62 percent of whom were Gen Z or millennial event-goers.

Above: Gametime helps sports venues fill empty seats.

Image Credit: Gametime

Beyond enabling more spontaneous live experiences, LastCall also helps attract more price-sensitive fans. According to Gametime data, the median MLB ticket price 48 hours prior to the game is $48. Ninety minutes after the first pitch, that price decreases to $13. The National Basketball Association sees median prices of $127 48 hours before an event, which falls to $40 90 minutes after tipoff.

For music fans, data shows that prices fall from $114 48 hours pre-start to $55 90 minutes into a concert. Gametime data shows similar savings leading up to and after an event starts across all major music and sporting events.

Alongside a growing last-minute market, the company delivered 80 percent year-over-year growth from 2017 to 2018. Gametime surveyed 287 people and a combination of its own users as well as non-Gametime users via Survey Monkey in January 2019. Founded in 2013, Gametime is available in 60 markets in the U.S. and Canada as an app from the App store or the Google Play store.

Backers include Accel and Evolution Media, with $41.5 million raised to date. The company has 84 employees.

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