Ever wondered how to get tickets to sold-out sporting events?

Sports fans Liran Froind and Aviran Zazon are useful people to know. The duo are the founders of Ticket-Compare, which helps customers to get their hands on sold-out tickets for live sports events. Set to be the Skyscanner of football ticketing, the price comparison platform finds the best deals on tickets for the World Cup, the Premier League and any other major football tournaments and leagues, in addition to rugby, cricket and tennis tickets.

Born in 2015 and bootstrapped with £3,000, the business has sold over 200,000 tickets, growing exponentially over the past seven years. For price comparison sites have grown significantly of late, due to increased awareness about online shopping, coupled with people looking for cheaper deals amid financial pressures.

“The economy sure made a great step,” says Zazon, Ticket-Compare’s head of development and an avid Hapoel Jerusalem FC fan. “We have clients from India, China and islands you have never even heard of in the Atlantic.” He adds: “The paradox of choice played a big part in the growth that comparison sites have seen over the past few years. People want to make an easier choice and not scour around, while making sure they’re paying the cheapest available market price. Comparison sites give you just that, and in our case even more than that – as finding a reliable seller for secondary tickets is much harder to find than any commodity product. It’s not only about comparing – it’s about the legitimacy of the site they’re getting their tickets from.” Ticket-Compare prides itself on carrying out a strict screening process ensuring that customers can buy with confidence from trustworthy and vetted merchants.

According to reports, the affiliate marketing industry is worth an estimated $12 billion. The majority of affiliates are comparing products, notes Zazon.

How about future forecasts for the sector? Froind, Ticket-Compare’s CEO, notes: “Anything can be compared. Think about the iPhone – there are so many different prices and it’s the exact same product. People want to get it as cheap as they can and rightly so. For the football side of things, people are travelling more often and looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Attending the World Cup or Champions League final is definitely one of those.”

But football tickets are notoriously difficult to get hold of. “Not only that, is it hard to get your hands on them – it’s practically impossible. Especially if you’re a tourist who wants to see a once-in-a-lifetime game”.

Speaking of which, Ticket-Compare has sold hundreds of World Cup tickets to UK tourists.

Froind and Zazon worked at online betting company 888, before teaming up to launch Ticket-Compare. Froind recalls: “I have a friend who asked me about tickets for a Premier League game and if I had any idea where he can get them cheap as he knew I’m good at Googling. I couldn’t find a single comparison site for it, so I opened tons of tabs. I also didn’t know who I could trust. I dove into a world of complaints about ticket providers and prices that were all over the place. I figured that there has to be a solution for that, so I reached out to Aviran and we made it happen.”

Based in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Ticket-Compare has since partnered with several UK and European ticket marketplaces, working with them since inception.

The business has seen a rise in interest since the pandemic. “Many people were on hold until it was clear to go to stadiums, and now they finally have the chance.” And demand is only set to grow, paving the way for Ticket-Compare to become a household name. “Often when I meet friends of friends and I tell them what we do, if they are EPL fans they know exactly what we do and right away ask us for the best deal for the match they’d like to see.”

Anything for a certain game in Qatar this coming Sunday…? Asking for a friend

www.ticket-compare.com