AEG launches ticketing service in Denver.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COTE'S colorado

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO ALIENATE YOUR customers, try selling them a service as "a convenience" that saves you money and takes dollars out of their pockets instead.

That was the rub when Ticketmaster began enabling customers to print tickets at home. For an extra S2.50, you could use your own printer, ink and paper--and thus save the company printing and mailing costs. For consumers already paying other fees that sometimes would eclipse the cost of a ticket at. a club show, it was another insult.

The launch of AEG's axs ticketing service at least sets that charge aside. As a formidable rival arises, Ticketmaster recently eliminated its print-at-home. fee. Ticketmaster's merger with Live Nation made it possible for AEG to get into the ticketing business. A U.S. Department of Justice ruling as a condition of the merger allows AEG to license Ticketmaster's ticketing software to establish its competing brand. Instead, AEG is partnering with Outbox Enterprises. a ticketing company headed by former Ticketmaster executive Fredric D. Rosen. AEG is both a client and an equity partner in the company.

AEG, a subsidiary of the Anschutz Co., is rolling out the axs brand to represent its new ticketing arm that will service its music, sports and entertainment venues. It's testing the service at the Bluebird and Ogden theaters in Denver before it launches the service nationwide. Among the features: no hidden costs or fees. Ticket prices will reflect the full cost consumers will pay.

"Our approach has been let's make sure the customer knows exactly what they're getting into with respect to the overall price of the ticket, so we made things very transparent, very up front," said Todd Sims, senior vice president for AEG, "Another aspect that we hear a lot about is extra fees for printing at home. We're committed to not charge for those fees."

Sims, who is based in Los Angeles, was in Denver recently to tout the new service. AEG's venture fol-lows the lead of another local powerhouse. Three years ago, Kroenke Sports Enterprises launched Ticket Horse to sell tickets at the Pepsi Center and other venues it operates. With axs, AEG venues will be able to have their own branded ticketing.

"You'll be...