Fans flock to the UK for the greatest summer of live entertainment

Seatwave sees more European fans traveling to the UK in 2009

LONDON, 21 September 2009: Seatwave, Europe's largest fan-to-fan ticket exchange (1.5 million unique visitors - comScore, July 2009) has today announced huge growth in ticket sales across Europe following a fantastic six months of live entertainment.

The impact of this phenomenal growth could be felt here in the UK. The number of European fans attending live events in Britain during the first half of 2009 increased by 596% on the same period in 2008 (January - June).  This increase was due, in part, to traveling fans keen to attend the UK leg of big-artist tours for U2, AC/DC, Coldplay, Oasis and Britney Spears.

The first half of 2009 saw Seatwave's sales increase by a staggering 733% in Spain, 164% in Germany, 334% in Italy and 284% in the Netherlands (compared with the same period in 2008). This growth has also helped drive down prices in the European marketplace with the number of tickets being sold at or below face value increasing four-fold in Spain alone, whilst Italy saw a 144% increase and the Netherlands, 161%.

Irish rockers U2 proved most popular with Europeans this summer, with over 18,000 tickets sold through Seatwave. Europe's Top 5 most popular tickets in 2009 so far (from across the region) include:

1. U2
2. AC/DC
3. Depeche Mode
4. Bayern Munich
5. Michael Jackson (cancelled)

Joe Cohen, CEO and Founder of Seatwave said "2009 has so far been a year to remember for live entertainment across the region. We've seen a staggering number of Europeans choosing to come to the UK to catch some of the world's greatest artists in action.

Since launching, we've seen continuous growth within each of the six markets we operate. This is proof that our focus on fans and our unwavering commitment to providing a safe and secure ticket marketplace is the right way to go."

Recent comScore data confirmed that Seatwave is now the leading ticket marketplace in each of the territories it operates - UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands - as well as across Europe as a whole.