Market Report: Türkiye | International Ticketing Report
Türkiye (the recently renamed Turkey) is a tricky market to do well in. Alongside the continued political and economic turmoil, a further pre-pandemic challenge was the exchange rate – the lira has since slid to record lows amidst interest rate cuts.
Sponsorships and budgets have also been cut further following the pandemic, meaning that while demand to see big names and international acts remains high – nearly half the country’s 84m population falls in the 15 to 34 age range – supply hasn’t quite managed to keep up.
“The Turkish market has so much potential”
“The Turkish market has so much potential,” says Kemal Erdine, managing director of Ticketmaster Türkiye.
“All music genres boast a robust Turkish fanbase, with Turkish fans ready and waiting for popular names to come and tour.” And hopefully, things will start to change. “Türkiye is the focus of many international festival companies,” adds Erdine. “We believe Istanbul and some other Turkish cities will become popular destinations for big music festivals.”
PRIMARY TICKETING
Ticketmaster, which operates as Biletix, remains the market leader by some distance, with no one really attempting to challenge this.
Mobilet, an online-only, social- media-led ticket platform, folded pre-pandemic
Mobilet, an online-only, social- media-led ticket platform, folded pre-pandemic, and other companies such as TixBox, Biletino, and Biletinial remain small local players and aren’t really viewed as direct competition.
DISTRIBUTION OF SALES
Digital ticket adoption accelerated with the pandemic and is now the most popular ticketing solution for consumers, followed by print-at-home, according to Erdine. “Most consumers prefer digital tickets, however there are some fans who still like souvenir tickets for certain events,” he adds.
VALUE OF MARKET
Both Viagogo and TicketSwap are active in Türkiye, with all sorts of sports and non-music-related events available on the former. Tickets for football matches – Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, and Beşiktaş are the three main Istanbul clubs – are particularly popular, especially Champions League games and local derbies.
