Ticketmaster Preparing for Return of Live Events Next Year
Ticketmaster #Ticketmaster
Live Nation Entertainment’s (LYV) – Get Report is reportedly preparing for the return of live events in 2021 as the world’s largest concert promoter and ticketing provider aims to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
Shares of Live Nation, Beverly Hills, Calif., at last check were down 3.1% at $63.26.
The news comes just days after Pfizer said that its developing coronavirus vaccine was 90% effective in late-stage trials and that it planned to seek emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this month.
Ticketmaster has been working on a framework for post-pandemic fan safety that uses smartphones to verify fans’ vaccination status or whether they’ve tested negative for the coronavirus within a 24- to 72-hour window, Billboard reported.
The plan, which is still being developed, will rely on the Ticketmaster digital ticket app, third-party health-information companies like Clear Health Pass or IBM’s (IBM) – Get Report Digital Health Pass, and testing and vaccine distribution providers like LabCorp (LH) – Get Report and the CVS (CVS) – Get Report Minute Clinic.
After purchasing a ticket for a concert, fans would need to verify that they have already been vaccinated, which would provide about one year of covid-19 protection, or tested negative for the disease roughly 24 to 72 hours prior to the concert.
Once the test was complete, the fans would instruct the labs to deliver the results to their health-pass companies.
If the tests are negative, or the fans were vaccinated, the health-pass companies would verify the attendees’ covid-19 status to Ticketmaster, which would then issue the fans the credentials they need to access the event.
Fans who tested positive or didn’t take a test to verify their status would not be granted access.
The coronavirus pandemic hit the entertainment industry hard as concert venues and theaters were forced to close the doors in accordance with social distancing regulations.
Last week, Live Nation Entertainment, which suspended shows March 12, just ahead of the critical summer concert season, reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss.