MovieTickets.com Deal Could Help Small Theaters Offer Remote Ticketing

A lof of small theaters owners don’t sell tickets remotely because they don’t want to shoulder the additional cost. But that could soon change for exhibitors who belong to the Cinema Buying Group (CBG), a consortium administered by the industry’s National Association of Theatre Owners.

It just made a multi-year deal to exclusively offer MovieTickets to its members. That provides an economy of scale to serve CBG’s 500 member companies which have about 7,000 screens. Each theater owner can decide whether to opt in. They have an incentive to do so under terms that make the service more appealing.

“CBG’s mission is to ensure a thriving community of independent exhibitors in the digital age,” the group’s Managing Director Bill Campbell says. “This deal with MovieTickets.com takes us a critical step forward in that mission.”

MovieTickets CEO Joel Cohen says the company has “tailored a suite of programs and services for their members and look forward to widespread adoption amongst their vast membership.”

Last year Fandango made its appeal to small theater owners by forging a partnership with software company Veezi to develop a cloud-based cinema management system.