Yoonew

Infobox Company
company_name = yoonew, Inc.
company_
company_slogan = The Futures in Tickets
vector_
company_type = Web Start-up
genre =
foundation = 2004
founder =
location = New York, New York, USA
origins =
key_people = Gerry Wilson, co-founder, CEO
Hagos Mehreteab, co-founder, President
industry = Ticketing
products = Sports Ticket Derivatives
Sports Tickets
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent =
subsid =
owner =
homepage = [http://www.yoonew.com/ www.yoonew.com]
footnotes =

yoonew, Inc. is a start-up based in New York City, USA, that runs an online exchange specializing in championship sports tickets and ticket derivatives. Since being founded in 2004, Yoonew has provided tickets and ticket derivatives for large sporting events such as the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the UEFA European Football Championship, the Final Four and the US Open.

History

yoonew Inc. was founded in September 2004 by MIT Sloan students Gerry Wilson and Hagos Mehreteab in hopes of creating a method by which die-hard fans without thousands of dollars to spare could get their hands on cheap tickets to major sporting events. The idea was born when Wilson was unable to obtain affordable tickets to the 2003 World Series. After the idea fared well in a couple of business-plan competitions, Wilson and Mehreteab, a longtime friend, launched the company. [cite web | url=http://www.forbes.com/home/entrepreneurs/2005/12/21/yoonew-ticketmaster-tickets-cx_bn_1222yoonew.html | title=Forbes - "Final Four Tickets At 80% Off" ]

The company experienced difficulties early as co-founder Wilson was forced to liquidate his 401(k) in order to provide customers with 2005 NCAA Final Four college basketball tickets in 2005. After struggling initially, Yoonew was able to raise $2 million in investments and began to grow. [cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/business/02scene.html?ex=1296536400&en=1dadc087aa14ece8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | title=New York Times - "Wait Till Next Year, but Lock In the Ticket Price Now" ] In October 2007, yoonew changed its interface to provide real-time price plotting similar to that seen on Yahoo! and Google. [ [http://www.ticketnews.com/yOOnew-Launches-New-Features0102507 yOOnew.com Launches New Features | Ticket News ] ] A point of contention raised regarding the new interface was that it was too heavily geared towards traders, which reduces usability for the average user. [ [http://www.usablemarkets.com/?p=187#comment-15329 UsableMarkets - markets, design, usability, research » YooNew On TechCrunch ] ]

To make the site more accessible for the average user, yoonew launches on July 2008, "yoonew direct" a new interface in Adobe Flash which complements the existing interface ("yoonew exchange"). Users having an account on "yoonew exchange" can use the same account to log in yoonew direct and vice versa. In addition, products purchased on "yoonew direct" can be traded on the "yoonew exchange". At the same time, yoonew launched a new feature which allows users to place orders for exact seat(defined by a section, row and seat) unlike the other events where users can only choose the seating category (usually five). At the moment, this feature is only available for the US Open 2008.

How it works

If a fan believes his favorite team will reach the championship game, he can purchase ticket futures months in advance at a low prices which are market-based. [ [http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/06/super-bowl-tickets-at-a-fraction-of-the-price-super-deal-or-super-swindle/ Super Bowl Tickets At A Fraction Of The Price: Super Deal Or Super Swindle? ] ] If the team actually makes it to the big game, the fan is guaranteed tickets. If the team is eliminated and the holder has not re-sold their contract, they lose their investment. [ [http://kdka.com/seenon/Ticket.Futures.Gambling.2.391714.html kdka.com - Taking A Gamble On Ticket Futures ] ]

yoonew offers three types of contracts:
* A Team Fantasy Seat for a given team and a given event which entitles the owner the ticket to the event if the team makes it to the event;
* A Matchup Fantasy Seat for a given matchup and a given event which entitles the owner the ticket to the event if both teams of the matchup makes it to the event;
* A Ticket for a given event.

If Matchup Fantasy Seat are riskier than Team Fantasy Seat, they are also much more cheaper.During the playoff, the Fantasy Seats of eliminated teams get expired and are removed from their owner's portfolios. When a team becomes a finalist, the Team Fantasy Seat for the team is converted into a ticket. When both teams of a matchup become finalist, the Matchup Fantasy Seats are converted into tickets. The owners of such Fantasy Seats can choose either to sell the ticket on the exchange for a profit or keeps it to go to the game.

For example, in 2006, sports fan Joe Kocott bought 18 futures contracts for the Pittsburgh Steelers making the Super Bowl at an average of $185 each. When the Steelers eventually made it to the Super Bowl, he was delivered the tickets, which were selling at around $2,500 each at the time. [ [http://wcco.com/topstories/Ticket.futures.sporting.2.356331.html wcco.com - Scoring Discount Tickets To Big Games ] ]

More recently, in 2007, a systems analyst paid $537 apiece for two futures contracts for the New England Patriots for upper-deck seats at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona. Since the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl, he ends up with two tickets for the Super Bowl XLII. [cite web | url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ticketfutures0131.artjan30,0,3991085.story | title=Hartford Courant - Call It Ball Street: Futures Market Created For Sports TicketsDead link|date=June 2008]

For the last SuperBowl, a consumer could have had got a ticket for only $86 had he bought a team fantasy seat for the Giant one month before the big game. [cite web | url=http://www.azcentral.com/sports/superbowl/articles/0125SuperBowlTix-CP.html | title=AZCentral.com - Get into the market for next year's Super Bowl]

On the other hand, if a trader believes that a team will unlikely make it to the championship game, she can short the Fantasy Seat. To make sure that the short is covered, yoonew required that the trader owns a ticket. With one ticket to the Super Bowl for instance, the trader can short up to 16 Team Fantasy Seats (one for each team of the AFC conference or one for each team of the NFC conference). If the trader shorts a Team Fantasy Seat for a team which gets eliminated, she earns the amount at which she shorted the Fantasy Seat. However in the "unfortunate" case the team makes it to the final, she loses her ticket.

ee also

*Ticket resale

References

External links

* [http://www.yoonew.com Yoonew.com]
* [http://blog.yoonew.com Official Yoonew Blog]
* [http://forum.yoonew.com Official Yoonew Forum]