Ticketmaster announced today a major expansion into the resale business by purchasing TicketsNow for approximately 265 million. “Fans have embraced ticket resale, and the combination of Ticketmaster and TicketsNow will allow us to provide a safer, more reliable and efficient resale experience,” said Sean Moriarty, President and CEO of Ticketmaster. “We are confident that combining TicketsNow’s strong resale network with our audience and distribution capabilities will enable us to set a new standard in the resale category.”

This deal is long overdue for Ticketmaster who has been missing out on large amounts of money in the ticket resale business. Originally they launched their own Ticket Exchange thinking this would help them get into the market but that has obviously not worked out and with their new NFL deal they need a way to make this happen.

All other Ticket Brokers have to be really worried about this partnership. With the connections that Ticketmaster has and the know how of the people that work of TicketsNow, there is no reason why that shouldn’t dominate the secondary ticket market for years to come. Ticketmaster will create an integrated platform on which fans will be able to simultaneously review and compare ticket availability and pricing in the primary, premium and resale categories. Building upon its existing TicketExchange resale marketplaces and partnerships with the NFL, NHL and NBA, Ticketmaster will work closely with its venue, promoter, team and other live entertainment clients to offer ticket validation and electronic ticket delivery to fans purchasing in the resale marketplace.

It is also being reported that Razor Gator missed out on being purchased due to accounting issues. This has to be a big blow to that organization because there aren’t really any other other companies out there big enough to buy them. Maybe Ticketmaster will still buy them but it seems like they should be able to crush them now.