Ticketmaster has expanded into China through an alliance with Beijing CSI Ticketing Development. The new joint venture, the catchy titled Beijing Gehua Ticketmaster Ticketing Co, will be the exclusive ticketing provider for the Beijing Olympics which is, presumably, a pretty good contract.
Ticketmaster president Sean Moriarty told Billboard that the Chinese live events market is becoming increasingly important, observing that there is "explosive growth" there and that "the market is moving at a pace that we certainly have not seen anywhere else before". He continued: "We are going to do the 2008 Games within the context of our [joint venture] partnership, and we are going to be pursuing other opportunities in Beijing within the context of that JV. At the same time, we are evaluating very carefully opportunities across mainland China and Hong Kong".