Entertainment Event Ticket Purchase and Exchange System

Abstract

An electronic ticket exchange system offers tickets using a market-making system. Patrons submit bids, for seats of different quality, and an initial price is established for each quality of seat. A trading system provides for a secondary market in which patrons who have purchased tickets for an event can readily sell them to other patrons. All of the rights associated with a ticket, such as entry into the venue, parking privileges, designated seating, etc., are stored in a electronic form. An electronic venue entry control system verifies that a person owns an electronic ticket property right, and authorizes the privileges associated with the ticket. A seating system is employed to determine an optimal seating configuration based upon patron-specific preferences, after the initial sale of tickets and prior to entry into the venue. The specific assigned seats are indicated to the ticket holder at the time of entry.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic system for selling electronic tickets for entertainment events, comprising:
 a patron interface configured to present options for a patron to:
 obtain information about entertainment events at one or more venues affiliated with the system, and 
 purchase tickets to a desired entertainment event at a venue and transfer tickets to other patrons; 
   a database configured to store:
 identifying information about at least a first patron; and 
 a token representing a first electronic ticket, for a first event at a first venue, sold via said patron interface to the first patron, said token being associated in the database with the identifying information about the first patron; 
   a payment system configured to store profile information regarding at least an account of the first patron and cause the account of the first patron to be debited for the purchase of the first electronic ticket; and   a communication system configured to transmit, from the database to an entry system associated with the venue, an association of the token with the identifying information about the first patron.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the database is configured to store information related to merchandise associated with the first event and the patron interface is further configured to present options for the first patron to purchase through the system merchandise associated with the first event. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further including a seating system configured to determine an allocation of seat assignments at the first venue for electronic tickets to the first event after the electronic tickets have been sold to patrons. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the communication system is configured to transmit to the entry system information regarding the allocation of seat assignments. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the seating system is configured to determine the allocation of seat assignments based on preferences, stored in the database, of the patrons to whom the electronic tickets have been sold. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the communication system is configured to transmit to the entry system information regarding the allocation of seat assignments. 
     
     
         7 . A electronic system for selling and exchanging electronic tickets for entertainment events, comprising:
 a patron interface configured to present options for a patron to:
 obtain information about entertainment events at one or more venues affiliated with the system, and 
 purchase tickets to a desired entertainment event at a venue and exchange tickets with other patrons; 
   a database configured to store:
 first identifying information about a first patron; 
 second identifying information about a second patron; and 
 a token representing a first electronic ticket, for a first event at a first venue, sold via said patron interface to the first patron, said token being associated in the database with the first identifying information about the first patron; 
   a trading system configured to electronically transfer the first electronic ticket from the first patron to the second patron and, upon transfer, associate, in the database, the token with the second identifying information about the second patron;   a payment system configured to:
 store profile information regarding at least an account of the first patron and an account of the second patron, 
 automatically debit the account of the first patron for the purchase of the electronic ticket, 
 automatically credit the account of the first patron when the electronic ticket is transferred to the second patron via said trading system, and 
 automatically debit the account of the second patron when the electronic ticket is transferred to the second patron via said trading system; and 
   a communication system configured to transmit, from the database to an entry system associated with the venue, an association of the token with identifying information about the patron with whom the token is associated.   
     
     
         8 . An entertainment event entry system, comprising
 a computer-implemented entry server;   an access-control device comprising:
 a reader configured to read a first patron's identification information; and 
 a communication device configured: (1) to electronically transmit the identification information to the entry server, and (2) receive, from the entry server, confirmation that a token corresponding to an electronic ticket for the first event is associated with the first patron; 
 wherein the access-control device is configured to, upon confirmation that the token corresponding to the electronic ticket for the first event is associated with the first patron, authorize entry of the first patron into the venue for the first event; and 
   a printer associated with the access-control device and configured to print, for the first patron, a paper version of the first patron's electronic ticket which indicates the date, seat number, and event name associated with the first event.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the reader comprises a smart card reader, magnetic stripe card reader, an RFID device reader or a biometric reader. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein electronic tickets, including the electronic ticket for the first event, are exchangeable from one patron to another patron until used to gain entry into the venue, and wherein the communication device is configured to transmit information indicating the authorization of entry of a patron into the venue for the first event to indicate use of the electronic ticket and prevent any further trading of the electronic ticket. 
     
     
         11 . A method for managing electronic ticket exchange and access control to ticketed events in a system comprising a computer processor programmed with instructions, which when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform the following steps:
 storing in a database a token representing an electronic ticket for an event at a venue in response to receiving information regarding an electronic ticket purchased by a first patron, said token being associated with identifying information about the first patron that is stored in the database;   receiving information that the first patron has transferred the electronic ticket to a second patron, and updating in the database the association of the token with the first patron to an association with the second patron;   in response to receiving identifying information pertaining to an entering patron from a reader at the venue for the event, determining from the database whether the received identifying information pertaining to the entering patron is associated with the token representing the electronic ticket for the event; and   communicating the result of the determination to an access control device associated with the reader to provide the entering patron with physical access to the venue.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further including the step of determining an allocation of seats after the first patron purchases the ticket but before the event commences. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the seats are allocated on the basis of preferences submitted by patrons. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further including the step of communicating an identification of the seat that is allocated to the ticket at the time that entry is provided to the venue. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said received identifying information pertaining to the entering patron is presented to said reader by an identification device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the identification device comprises a wireless device, PDA, smart card or magnetic stripe card. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the venue contains more than two levels of seating quality, and further including the step of establishing, in a trading system, a respective market for each of the levels of seating quality. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further including the step of establishing a price for the electronic tickets based upon bids submitted by patrons. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , further including the step of automatically providing a notification to individuals that a patron has purchased tickets to an event and such tickets are available to be transferred to said individuals.