Vivid Seats Inc. is an American ticket exchange and resale company. Vivid Seats LLC operates an independent secondary ticket marketplace. The Company sells tickets for live sports, concerts, and theater events. Vivid Seats conducts business in the United States.

Vivid Seats is a middleman between ticket buyers and sellers, taking a 10% commission once tickets have sold and additionally charging buyers service fees (circa 20 to 40%) and shipping charges.

Who owns Vivid Seats?

Vivid Seats was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 2001 by Jerry Bednyak and Eric Vassilatos. Vivid Seats has been invested in by two private equity companies, Vista Equity Partners in 2016 and GTCR in 2017. GTCR bought a majority stake for $575 million. Vivid Seats is a member of the Internet Association, which advocates for net neutrality.

The company went public on October 19, 2021, after a merger earlier in 2021 with Horizon Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC. It trades on the NYSE and Nasdaq as SEAT. Todd Boehly is chairman of Horizon Acquisitions Corporation, which announced that “Eldridge Industries, LLC (“Eldridge”), an affiliate of Horizon’s sponsor, Horizon Sponsor, LLC, has agreed with DraftKings (NASDAQ, DKNG) to make a private placement PIPE investment in connection with the closing of the previously announced merger between Horizon and Vivid Seats.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmroaSesrSu1LOxZ5ufonuotI6wn6hln6y7tHnVoq2inF2osqLA0mg%3D