Fan-First Ticketing For Venues Outside The Live Nation Stack, As A 247-Point HN Thread Asks Why Ticketmaster Still Has No Real Competitor
A 228-comment Ask HN thread sparked by Knicks tickets at MSG asks why no platform stops scalper markups. Commenters converge on the real blocker, Live Nation's exclusive venue contracts and vertical integration rather than missing software, while praising DICE's anti-scalping model at the small-venue edge. The validated demand is fan-trusted, anti-scalping ticketing that owns the independent and mid-size venue box office where exclusivity does not reach.
Do not pitch Ticketmaster-but-nicer. The wedge the thread actually validates is the non-exclusive venue box office, DICE-style fan accounts and web-first checkout plus reserved seating and door scanning, sold as the venue's own ticketing rather than a destination marketplace, then move up-market with the venues you grow.
landscape (2 existing solutions)
The gap persists because Live Nation locks venues into exclusive contracts and deliberately absorbs fan rage on behalf of artists, so software-only entrants get squeezed to the small-venue edge or acquired. Commenters note new entrants need capital to fund venue sales cycles at thin margins, which is exactly why the indie and mid-size segment stays underserved.