One More Thing:Competition is always a good thing and consumers here will no doubt welcome news that Ticketmaster could finally have a serious rival in the market for concert and sports tickets.
Dublin-based Ticket Text is a new service launched about five weeks ago, offering a more streamlined and cheaper booking system to Ticketmaster.
It is believed to have secured some €5 million from investors and is targeting the Irish, UK and Spanish markets.
Its business model is founded on software that the company has developed, allowing barcodes to be sent by SMS to mobile phones and for e-tickets over the internet. Barcodes will be reissued free of charge in the event of a phone being lost or a message deleted by mistake.
Ticket Text was founded by London-based Mark McLaughlin, a 32-year-old entrepreneur and son of Kyran, the head of Davy Stockbrokers.
The company is believed to be close to signing up a London-based Premiership soccer club, and has been selling tickets for West End shows and UK concerts by Rod Stewart and Take That.
It has also signed a deal with Ryanair, giving it access to the airline's large passenger base. Small steps in the right direction, although cracking the Irish market will be his biggest test.
Ticketmaster dominates the market here, and has seen off a couple of fledgling ticketing enterprises. It has a deep-rooted relationship with major concert promoters and sports bodies.
McLaughlin, however, is confident he can carve a niche in this market. "If we can prove the model we'll pick up some Irish clients . . . I've no doubt about that."
