Viagogo Teams with Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group to Form Ticketing Partnership

Europe's leading secondary ticketing company, Viagogo has signed a deal with Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group to become the company's official premium ticketing partner.

The company is now the official and exclusive place for fans to get the best seats at all Really Useful Group hit productions, such as The Sound of Music and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The landmark deal marks the first time a theatre producer has signed a premium ticketing partnership of this kind. It follows Viagogo's partnership with Madonna earlier this year and further cements the company as the most trusted and respected secondary ticketing company by fans, artists, sports clubs and producers.

Andre Ptaszynski, Chief Executive of The Really Useful Group said: "Viagogo's partnerships with Manchester United and Madonna prove they are the undisputed market leader and so it was an easy decision to sign this deal. They provide an unparalleled expertise in ticketing and we have absolute confidence that they will offer the best possible service to our customers."

Eric Baker, CEO of Viagogo said: "Viagogo is thrilled to be able to offer theatre goers the very best seats in the house for all of Really Useful Group's fabulous productions. We already have partnerships with leading sports clubs, live music companies and artists, so it seems only natural we should partner with Really Useful Group, the leading theatre producer in the West End, and make Viagogo the one stop destination for fans looking for live event tickets."

Viagogo is Europe's leading ticket exchange that allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and 100% guaranteed way. Viagogo is bringing efficiency and transparency to what has traditionally been a murky marketplace. By managing payment and delivery, Viagogo guarantees that buyers will receive their tickets and sellers will receive payment. For this service, Viagogo takes a commission which is a percentage of each exchange.

Viagogo was launched in August 2006 with landmark deals to become the official secondary ticketing partner of two of the leading English football clubs Manchester United and Chelsea, making it the only way of legally re-selling tickets to these clubs, due to the special laws in England. Similar partnerships followed with German giants Bayern Munich, Hearts and leading rugby clubs, Leicester Tigers, London Wasps and Harlequins.

In August 2007, Viagogo launched operations in the U.S. with an exclusive partnership with the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

Deals followed with the likes of the Independent and Lastminute.com and Warner Music International became the first music label to partner with a secondary ticketing company. A deal between Viagogo and Live Nation in the Netherlands was the first ever partnership between a secondary ticketing company and a music promotion company. Viagogo pioneered the first charity auctions, working directly with music artists such as James Blunt and Peter Gabriel.

In May 2008, Viagogo struck a partnership with the biggest female recording artist in the world. It became the official premium and secondary ticketing partner for Madonna's Sticky and Sweet European tour. This is the first time an artist has signed a deal of this kind, signaling a dramatic shift for both the recording and ticketing industries and proving Viagogo to be a true market leader.

Viagogo now provides fans with its safe, secure exchange in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and the US. Further expansion across Europe will follow in the near future.

Viagogo was set up by Eric Baker, the co-founder of StubHub.com, the leading online secondary ticketing company in the US that was acquired in March 2007 by eBay for $307m. 

The Really Useful Group Limited (RUG) was founded in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber.  The group is wholly, privately owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and is an established international entertainment company, actively involved throughout the world in theatre and concert production, recording, merchandising, music publishing, television, film and video.

The group co owns The Adelphi Theatre and owns seven theatres in the West End including the world famous Theatre Royal Drury Lane and The London Palladium. The Really Useful Group produces, co-produces, licenses and general manages theatrical productions worldwide.  At the heart of the business lie the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Song & Dance, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, By Jeeves, Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game and The Woman In White. Productions by other composers include A.R.Rahman's Bombay Dreams in London and New York and Rodger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music currently playing at The London Palladium and opening in Toronto, Canada in 2008. Forthcoming projects include a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera and General Managing the Australian production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert when it arrives in London.

RUG is a UK based company with its head office in London and an office in Sydney. www.reallyuseful.com

To buy tickets for Really Useful Group productions through Viagogo, click on www.viagogo.co.uk