Ticketron

TRS was incorporated on May 4, 1965, and based in New York. It was funded by Cemp Investments, headed by Edgar Bronfman Sr.^[1] It hired Jack Quinn who became president and the company started selling tickets in May 1967 from six Alexander's stores in New York and New Jersey using a duplexed Control Data Corporation CDC 1700 computer system with terminal equipment supplied by Computer Applications, Inc. that it called "electronic box offices".^[2][1] The same year, the first company to use the Ticketron name was founded in Fort Lee, New Jersey and its president was Clayton B. Hulsh.^[3] The original Ticketron unsuccessfully trialled its computerized ticketing system in summer 1967 and folded later that year.^[4] TRS acquired the name and began using it for its service in July 1969.^[5]

The original software resided on a pair (one for backup) of CDC 1700 computers located on the first floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with a large window facing Wilshire Blvd. The system had back-up power generators in the basement to help ensure un-interruptible service. The system was designed to ensure that a given 'seat' at an event could not be sold more than once. TRS's terminals expanded to other publicly accessible locations, such as banks and department stores.

In 1969, 51% of TRS was sold to Control Data Corp. for $3.9 million with Edgar Bronfman Sr. and his family retaining 25%.^[1][5] Former ABC television president, Thomas W. Moore became chairman of TRS.^[5]

Another competitor, Computicket, owned by Computer Sciences Corporation, folded in April 1970 leaving Ticketron as the sole computerized ticketing service in the US.^[5] In 1973, Control Data Corp bought out Cemp Investment, becoming sole owner.^[1] In 1979, Ticketron starting selling tickets by phone.^[6]

In addition to the better-known event ticketing system, Ticketron also provided ticketing terminals and back-end infrastructure for parimutuel betting, and provided similar services for a number of US lotteries, including those in New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington and Maryland.^[7]

By the mid 1980s, Ticketron had 600 outlets in 22 US states and Canada.^[7] By 1990, Ticketron had 750 outlets and had a 40% market share, behind Ticketmaster, which had been founded in 1976, with 50% of the market.^[6] In 1990 the majority of Ticketron's assets and business, with the exception of a small antitrust carve-out for The Shubert Organization's Telecharge unit (which largely operates ticketing for Broadway theatres), were bought by The Carlyle Group who sold it the following year to rival Ticketmaster.^[8][9]

The Ticketron name was revived in 2017 as an online ticket service, Ticketron.com, after Ticketmaster sold the brand name in 2017.^[10]