Ticketmaster Could Require COVID Vaccines for All Concert Goers
By Cooper Dowd, Staff Writer
The popular ticketing service Ticketmaster wants to check concertgoers’ coronavirus vaccine status to allow for the return to in-person concerts.
According to Billboard, development is underway but will not move forward until the virus treatment is approved.
Ticketmaster intends to use three separate components to verify vaccine status: their California-based company’s digital ticketing app, third-party health information firms like CLEAR Health Pass, and testing/vaccination distributors like Labcorp or CVS Minute Clinic.
The ticketing giant said that they would not store or access medical records. If approved, fans would verify either vaccination or a negative test 24 hours before the show.
Attendees would then send their test results to companies like CLEAR Health Pass or IBM’s Digital Health Pass, which would verify whether a fan tests negative. Venues won’t grant concertgoers access to the event if Ticketmaster does not receive their negative test.
Mark Yovich, Ticketmaster president, projects that demand for digital screening services will attract a new wave of investors and entrepreneurs to fuel the growth of a new COVID-19 technology sector.
Along with concert venues, Yovich expects similar strategies for airline travel, employment verification, and theme park entry.
“We’re already seeing many third-party health care providers prepare to handle the vetting—whether that is getting a vaccine, taking a test, or other methods of review and approval—which could then be linked via a digital ticket so everyone entering the event is verified,” Yovich told Billboard.
“Ticketmaster’s goal is to provide enough flexibility and options so that venues and fans have multiple paths to return to events, and is working to create integrations to our API and leading digital ticketing technology as we will look to tap into the top solutions based on what’s green-lit by officials and desired by clients.”
Moreover, Ticketmaster has two new technologies that will aid the program.
First, the digital ticket format linked to the fan’s identity eliminates the need for paper tickets and restricts tickets from being transferred or resold.
Second, Ticketmaster wants to employ its SmartEvent system. The new system would help event organizers and fans manage social distancing, delayed entry, and set other safety parameters.
“In order for live events to return, technology and science are going to play huge roles in establishing integrated protocols so that fans, artists, and employees feel safe returning to venues,” says Marianne Herman, co-founder and principal reBUILD20, which focuses on helping entertainment and live events companies develop COVID-19 strategies. “Integrating ticketing platforms with the guests’ verified testing results is one key way to reimagine how we’re going to get fans back to live events. The experience of attending live events will look completely different, but innovation married with consistent implementation will provide a framework to get the live sports and event industry back to work.”
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