Entertainment event ticket purchase and exchange system

A system for the sale and exchange of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can purchase electronic tickets for entertainment events;
• a storage system for storing information regarding electronic tickets purchased by patrons;
• a trading system via which patrons having electronic tickets stored in said storage system can transfer the electronic tickets to other patrons;
• a seating system which determines an allocation of seats at said venue for electronic tickets for the event;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of information pertaining to a patron to determine whether that patron is an owner of an electronic ticket for a given event, and to permit those patrons who are owners of electronic tickets to enter the venue at which the event is being presented.

A system for the sale and exchange of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can purchase electronic tickets for entertainment events;
• a storage system for storing information regarding electronic tickets purchased by patrons;
• a trading system via which patrons having electronic tickets stored in said storage system can transfer the electronic tickets to other patrons;
• a payment system which stores information regarding payment accounts of patrons and automatically debits and credits said accounts for purchases and trades of electronic tickets made by patrons;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of information pertaining to a patron to determine whether that patron is an owner of an electronic ticket for a given event, and to permit those patrons who are owners of electronic tickets to enter the venue at which the event is being presented.

A system for the sale of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can submit bids for event tickets and purchase tickets for entertainment events;
• a market-making system which establishes a price for entertainment event tickets based upon bids submitted by patrons;
• and
• a notification mechanism which informs patrons who submit bids at or above the established price that their bids were successful.

A system for the sale of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can purchase tickets for entertainment events;
• a seating system which determines an allocation of seats at said venue for tickets for the event;
• and
• an entry system which permits those patrons who are owners of tickets to enter the venue at which the event is being presented, and provides patrons with an identification of seats that are allocated to their tickets at the time that entry is permitted.

A system for the sale and dissemination of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can purchase tickets for entertainment events;
• a storage system for storing information regarding tickets purchased by patrons;
• a notification system which automatically provides a notification to individuals that a patron has purchased tickets to an event and such tickets are available to be transferred to said individuals;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of information pertaining to an individual to determine whether that individual is an valid holder of a ticket for a given event, and to permit those individuals who are valid holders of electronic tickets to enter the venue at which the event is being presented.

A system for the sale of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can purchase tickets to entertainment events for both themselves and other patrons as part of a group transaction;
• a storage system for storing information regarding tickets purchased by patrons;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of information pertaining to a patron to determine whether that patron is an owner of an electronic ticket for a given event, and to permit those patrons who are owners of electronic tickets to enter the venue at which the event is being presented.

A system for the sale of tickets for entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can submit bids for event tickets and purchase tickets for entertainment events;
• a market-making system which establishes a price for entertainment event tickets based upon bids submitted by patrons;
• and
• a notification mechanism which informs patrons who submit bids at or above the established price that their bids were successful and provides patrons who qualify as season ticket holders with a right of first refusal to purchase tickets for a new season at the established price if their bids were below said established price.

A system for controlling access to entertainment events, comprising:

• a patron interface via which patrons can enter information which authorizes them for access to at least one entertainment event;
• a storage system for storing information regarding the patrons who are authorized for access to said event;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of information pertaining to a patron to check the information stored in said storage system and determine whether that patron is authorized for access to said event, and to permit those patrons who are authorized to enter a venue at which the event is being presented.

A system for controlling access to entertainment events, comprising:

• a plurality of portable identification devices each of which contains data that identifies a respective patron as a member of an organization affiliated with said system;
• a storage system for storing information regarding the patrons who are members of the organization;
• and
• an entry system which is responsive to the presentation of one of said identification devices to check the information stored in said storage system and determine whether that patron is authorized for access to an event, and to permit those patrons who have authorized access to enter a venue at which the event is being presented.