The ticket sales game has no doubt been disrupted by COVID-19 and changing pandemic protocols – but now a Saint John tech company is disrupting the market even more.
Spinzo came on the scene 10 years ago, touting the online ticket buying style we’ve come to know — with a few more features. Those features have really come in handy as sports teams look to get fans back in the stands.
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“We’ve developed a suite of social distance technologies,” explains founder and CEO Emmanuel Elmajian.
“Most teams in North America don’t have fans, that’s the reality.
“But they’re starting to look at ways to reintroduce fans – and they’re looking at doing that through what they call the pod model.”
Venues that are currently allowing fans can offer seats in blocks through Spinzo – and those blocks can be separated from each other. It’s an adaptation of modelling the company was already employing.
“Typically, it’s used for group ticketing promotions,” says Elmajian.
“So schools, non-profit organizations – when a number of tickets are being purchased.”
He says Spinzo was already growing before this new upswing, as the way we buy tickets evolves.
“Sports teams and venues are coming to us asking for innovations,” he says, “so we don’t even need to dream them up in many cases.”
Born and raised in Saint John, Elmajian says the pandemic has not only shown Spinzo’s potential, but his hometown’s as well.
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“The pandemic, in my opinion, has unlocked tremendous opportunity for a place like Saint John,” he says.
“You have companies that are typically very large in centres like New York, Toronto, Chicago, L.A. and now they’re telling their staff they can work from anywhere.
“So Saint John is in an excellent position if we choose to seize the opportunity because were a low cost of living a high-quality living,” Elmajian says.
Spinzo is currently being used by teams in the NHL, NBA, NFL and more.