The entertainment ticketing market - Italy (2023)

1.1 Definition and presentation

The entertainment ticket market consists of physical and online distributors dedicated to selling tickets for sporting events, theater performances, exhibitions, concerts, etc. This market is usually divided into primary and secondary markets, depending on whether the distributor is a ticket office partner of the event organizer or a professional ticket holder and retailer, such as a broker.

The global entertainment ticket market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4 % from 2021 reaching a value of $10.77 billion by 2025. In particular, market growth appears to be driven by the online entertainment ticket sales segment, for which an annual growth rate of 5% is projected over the 2018-2026 time horizon.

In Italy, despite the presence of large, well-established companies operating in the entertainment ticket market, such as TicketOne, there has also been a growing number of start-ups that, in recent years, have entered the competitive landscape focusing on highly innovative features.

However, a phenomenon that has always characterized the Italian market is that of bagarinaggio, or the purchase in large quantities of tickets that are resold at much higher prices, yielding high profits. Although considered by many as a practice strongly detrimental to the market, to date in Italy there are no regulations able to counter this phenomenon unlike other nations that have adopted more stringent measures in this regard.

The entertainment ticket market has suffered a major slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the inability to organize events of all kinds for long periods of time. Despite this, future prospects are optimistic, especially with regard to the online ticket sales segment. Indeed, thanks to the increasing prevalence of digital tools, many industry players are beginning to implement digital measures, such as websites or apps, to increase online sales.