FanSnap
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Ticketing, e-commerce |
| Founded | September 2009 |
| Founder | Russell D'Souza, Jack Groetzinger |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | International |
Key people | Jack Groetzinger (CEO) |
| Products | Ticket sales platform, DealScore algorithm, Rally platform (mobile food ordering and venue services) |
| Website | seatgeek |
SeatGeek is a ticketing platform primarily designed for mobile users, facilitating the purchase and resale of tickets for live sports, concerts, and theatrical performances. Accessible via both a mobile application and desktop interface, it provides users with interactive, color-coded seating maps along with options for electronic or printed ticket delivery. Originally functioning as an aggregator within the secondary ticket market, SeatGeek has evolved to serve as both a secondary marketplace and a primary ticket seller for various sports teams and venues.
Among its prominent clients are leading sports organizations such as the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, and Florida Panthers. It also counts several clubs from the English Premier League, including Liverpool F.C. and Manchester City F.C., among its partners. The platform administers ticketing operations for major venues like AT&T Stadium and Rocket Arena. In the theater domain, SeatGeek collaborates with Broadway’s Jujamcyn Theaters and London’s Lloyd Webber Theatre Group.
SeatGeek’s business strategy centers on merging primary and secondary ticket markets, utilizing strategic alliances to broaden its market presence and boost revenue streams across international markets.
History
Founded by Russell D'Souza and Jack Groetzinger at DreamIT Ventures—a Philadelphia-based startup accelerator—SeatGeek launched in September 2009 at TechCrunch50, where it earned recognition as a leading company. Initial funding comprised $20,000 in seed capital from DreamIT Ventures in 2009, followed by seed investments ranging from $500,000 to $1 million in January 2010 from backers such as Sunil Hirani and Stage One Capital. In July 2010, the company secured $1 million in Series A funding led by Founder Collective and NYC Seed, with an additional $550,000 raised later that year from the same round’s investors.
By September 2010, SeatGeek enhanced its offerings by introducing interactive seating charts tailored for NFL stadiums. The following year brought strategic investments from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s A-Grade Investments, along with renewed collaborations including Yahoo Sports.
Growth continued through acquisitions and partnerships: in 2013, SeatGeek acquired competitor FanSnap and incorporated its technology; in 2014, it partnered with Telecharge; and in 2015, it raised $62 million in Series C funding led by Technology Crossover Ventures. A significant milestone occurred in 2016 when SeatGeek inked an agreement with Major League Soccer to develop an open ticketing network and became the official ticketing partner for Sporting Kansas City—the first primary box office client for the company.
The expansion persisted as SeatGeek secured official ticketing partnerships with Seattle Sounders FC (2017), New Orleans Saints and Pelicans (2017), and entered the cricket sector by becoming Lord's Cricket Ground’s ticketing partner in 2019. To strengthen its technological infrastructure, SeatGeek acquired Israeli ticketing software company Toptix in 2017.
In 2018, SeatGeek collaborated with the NFL to offer verified tickets and assumed the role of primary box office partner for the Dallas Cowboys. The company also acquired naming rights for SeatGeek Stadium (previously Toyota Park) and expanded internationally through agreements such as with Manchester City F.C. Innovations included integrating Snapchat features and partnering with Lyft to improve event accessibility.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, SeatGeek introduced "SeatGeek Adapt," a product suite designed to help venues optimize revenue despite social distancing measures. Concurrently, the company encountered legal disputes concerning refund policies amid event cancellations.
In 2021, SeatGeek broadened its Broadway involvement by partnering with Jujamcyn Theaters and enhanced executive leadership by adding former WNBA President Laurel J. Richie to its board. It launched Rally, a proprietary platform offering mobile food ordering and integrated venue services at locations including Cleveland Cavaliers' Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and Austin FC's Q2 Stadium. Additionally, SeatGeek partnered with the Brooklyn Nets to manage Barclays Center ticketing before terminating this relationship due to technical difficulties in early 2023.
The company went public through a SPAC merger valued at $1.35 billion in October 2021. In 2022, it secured primary ticketing agreements with NFL teams Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens, NBA's Utah Jazz, and NHL's Florida Panthers.
Following technical issues impacting ticket sales in January 2023, Barclays Center reverted to Ticketmaster for its ticketing services. CEO Jack Groetzinger attributed business challenges partly to competitive pressures from Live Nation during Senate Judiciary Committee discussions on ticketing market competition.
In February 2023, SeatGeek was appointed the official ticket reseller for Major League Baseball under a $100 million contract.
As of October 2024, the Better Business Bureau has assigned SeatGeek an "F" rating due to receiving over 1,800 consumer complaints within a three-year span.
FanSnap
FanSnap was a digital ticket search platform launched in 2007 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It compiled ticket listings for live events from multiple sources, including resale platforms such as RazorGator, StubHub, TicketNetwork, and eBay, as well as ticket brokers like Ace Ticket and Gold Coast Tickets. Rather than selling tickets directly, FanSnap earned revenue by directing users to external sellers through cost-per-click and cost-per-action advertising models.
In December 2011, the company was purchased by NexTag. Subsequently, in November 2013, SeatGeek—a competing ticket search engine—acquired FanSnap from Nextag/Wize Commerce for an undisclosed sum. After this acquisition, FanSnap’s search services were discontinued and merged into SeatGeek’s system, thereby strengthening SeatGeek’s presence in the ticketing marketplace.
Technology and functioning
Originally operating solely as a ticket aggregator, SeatGeek transformed into a leading primary ticket vendor, offering artists, sports franchises, and other entities the ability to sell tickets directly via its platform. The platform ranks tickets using its proprietary DealScore algorithm, which balances pricing with seat quality. Additionally, SeatGeek provides pricing forecasts akin to those used in airline fare predictions. The company has embraced mobile innovations, incorporating Apple Pay to facilitate smooth payment experiences.
The SeatGeek mobile application includes customizable widgets and connects with third-party services such as Lyft and Snapchat through its Rally platform. Rally enriches the live event experience by enabling fans to order concessions from their seats, schedule rideshares, and access venue information alongside weather updates.
Awards and recognition
- Featured in PC Magazine's "The Top 100 Web Sites of 2010."
- Founders Russell D'Souza and Jack Groetzinger honored in Bloomberg BusinessWeek's "America's Best Young Entrepreneurs 2010."
- Included in Business Insider's "The Silicon Alley 100: New York's Coolest Tech People In 2010."
- Recognized by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in Live Events for 2018, 2019, and 2022.
- Listed among the 2019 Crain's New York Business Fast 50; profitability details not disclosed.
- Identified as a leading brand in influencer marketing by Insider.com in 2020.
- Danielle Du Toit from SeatGeek Enterprise received the 2020 GameChanger award from Sports Business Journal.