- Business
- Vivid Seats Inc. operates an online ticket marketplace primarily serving the United States, Canada, and Japan. The company operates through two main segments: Marketplace and Resale. The Marketplace segment acts as an intermediary between event ticket buyers and sellers via its owned websites and mobile applications, including Vivid Seats, Vegas.com for Las Vegas shows and attractions, and Wavedash, an online ticket marketplace in Tokyo. It sells tickets for sports, concerts, theater events, and other live entertainment. This segment also includes Vivid Picks, a daily fantasy sports platform with gamification features, and offers Skybox, a proprietary enterprise resource planning tool that helps ticket sellers manage ticket inventories, adjust pricing, and fulfill orders across various resale marketplaces. The Resale segment acquires tickets to resell on secondary marketplaces and provides internal research and development support for Skybox and other seller tools.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Vivid Seats has expanded significantly in recent years. In 2021, it went public through a merger with Horizon Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Eldridge Industries. Recent acquisitions include the purchase of Betcha Sports Inc., rebranded as Vivid Picks, the Tokyo-based Wavedash marketplace, and Vegas.com for about $240 million in a cash-and-stock transaction completed in 2023. Strategic partnerships include collaborations with ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, several collegiate sports teams such as the University of Tennessee and the University of Notre Dame, NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, and Capital One for a co-branded entertainment rewards program.
The company’s offerings encompass a wide range of ticketing services and platforms, backed by technology to optimize ticket sales and inventory management for event organizers and sellers. Vivid Seats reported revenue of approximately $712.9 million in 2023, showing a 19% increase over the previous year, supported by growth in both Marketplace and Resale segments. The company continues to focus on enhancing its product suite, expanding its geographic footprint in North America and Japan, and strengthening technology-driven services for live event ticketing and fan engagement. The firm is listed on Nasdaq under ticker SEATW.