Amazon could soon be entering yet another new market – working with US venue owners to sell event tickets.
Four sources told the Reuters news agency that Amazon was in talks to offer event ticketing in America, seeing the market as ripe for a new entrant.
If such a move were to go ahead, it would be the latest effort by the Seattle-based online retailer to use its huge customer base and bargaining power to enter a big market.
It would also challenge Ticketmaster, which has a strong grip on the market.
Ticketmaster is currently the exclusive seller of tickets for many top US venues, generating $1.6bn in revenue from initial sales in 2016, according to estimates by research firm BTIG.
That figure does not include revenue from reselling tickets, which BTIG estimates at $250m.
Potential challengers have, until now, failed to make significant inroads.
But Amazon has some experience in the market in the UK: it has sold tickets to West End shows for two years and has even managed to beat Ticketmaster in some events, according to one source who spoke to Reuters.
Amazon was initially in talks with Ticketmaster regarding a potential partnership in the industry, but they disagreed on the issue of who would control customer data, according to a source.
Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, declined to comment on the news and Amazon failed to return a request for comment.
Source: Sky