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Tickets.com, which has grown through 11 mergers and purchases since it was founded in 1996, said it is letting staffers go because it is consolidating operations and administration functions of the acquired companies.
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TICKETS.COM TO LET 220 GO

Exclusive Deal With Major League Baseball Means More Time To See Baseball For Many Employees
Competition in the online ticketing business seems to be following in its terrestrial predecessor's footsteps.

Three days after Major League Baseball chose Tickets.com over Ticketmaster as its exclusive online ticketing outlet, Costa Mesa, CA-based online entertainment and sports ticket seller Tickets.com said it would lay off 35% of its staff, or 220 employees, within the next 15 months, reports Webnoize.

Tickets.com is restructuring into two business units—a ticketing services group and an Internet ticketing group. The ticketing services group will offer outsourcing, including online, call center, interactive voice response and retail distribution, while the Internet ticketing group will provide online ticketing.

Tickets.com's three-year agreement with Major League Baseball takes effect next season at the expense of Ticketmaster, the online news company said. But, the transition to Tickets.com will be delayed as 18 of the league's 30 teams are still under contract with USA Network's Ticketmaster. As the contracts with each team expire over the next 10 years, Tickets.com will take over online ticketing for those teams.

While it is on the losing end of the baseball deal, Ticketmaster was the beneficiary last month of another rival's downfall. The company got a boost when it took over the contracts for event ticketing company ETM Entertainment Network, which closed down its live-event business and laid off 100 of its 130 employees.

Tickets.com, which has grown through 11 mergers and purchases since it was founded in 1996, said it is letting staffers go because it is consolidating operations and administration functions of the acquired companies.

In May, the company reported that losses more than tripled while revenues increased more than 114% for the first quarter ended March 31. The online ticketing agent said its first-quarter loss increased to $21.6 million, or 37 cents per share, from a loss of $6 million, or 95 cents per share, during the previous period. The pro forma loss was $16.3 million, or 28 cents per share, up from last year's loss of $4.9 million, or 77 cents per share. Revenues increased to $14.1 million from $6.6 million, driven by a 61% increase in ticketing services revenue and a 291% increase in software services and other revenue (hitsdailydouble.com, 5/16).

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