Dave Scarborough
Chief Strategy Officer | Ticketmaster
Ticketing and tech go hand in hand, and the pioneers behind that tech continue to innovate and lead the business from a high perch.
Dave Scarborough is the chief strategy officer at Ticketmaster, where he oversees product integration and technology initiatives.
Since 2011, he has been responsible for the advanced application of Ticketmaster’s products and integration services, serving as the primary link between business segments and the product and technology division.
Throughout his 26-year tenure, Scarborough has been instrumental in driving innovation and spearheading strategic initiatives that have significantly shaped the company’s technological landscape and market position, Ticketmaster says.
His recent work includes at the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, the 18,000-seat, $2 billion home of the Los Angeles Clippers developed by team owner Steve Ballmer, which has introduced facial recognition ticket technology to go along with other innovative features.
Previously, Scarborough served as CEO of Distributed System Architects (DSA), which Ticketmaster acquired in 1998.
At DSA, he developed the first windowing ticketing system, Archtics, and introduced computerized relocation algorithms for sports teams.
Dave graduated with a BSEE from Pennsylvania State University, where he was also a former basketball player. Notably, he holds the distinction of being the only undergraduate ever to teach Calculus at the university.
Although there’s more than 6,700 Ticketmaster employees worldwide, Scarborough’s influence and experience appear to be leading the company’s results in a positive way.
Despite anecdotal talk of a softening demand for concert and event tickets, parent company Live Nation Entertainment reported record revenue in the second quarter of 2024, with Ticketmaster seeing a 3% increase in revenue over 2023, with 78 million fee-bearing tickets sold, consistent with last year, and a gross transaction value of $8.4 billion.
International markets were a bright spot, with ticket sales up 15% in Mexico, and the company sold more than 1 million tickets in Brazil and Peru.
As the most publicly known and dominant ticketing company in the industry, and the one that is often scapegoated by the public at large for any issues related to ticket price, scarcity or technology, Ticketmaster’s responsibility is a large one and its strategy extends from customer to client of all type.
At its heart is always about eliminating friction and offering innovative, reliable products that solve problems, which Scarborough continues to be a large part of.
“Our ultimate goal is to set clients up for success while minimizing fan friction, and we can help achieve that goal by demystifying ticketing and building innovative, reliable products,” Ticketmaster managing director Marla Ostroff said recently. — Ryan Borba
