After row, São Paulo and Ticketmaster unite ticketing, membership from 2027 | OneFootball

São Paulo officially announced this Friday (2) a long-term agreement with Ticketmaster — the multinational global leader in ticketing sales and event technology — aimed at unifying its ticket sales operation and the Sócio Torcedor membership program within a single digital ecosystem.

The new platform will officially take effect on January 1, 2027, the date on which the club will end its current contract with its current service provider after complying with the required regulatory notice period.

Last Wednesday (9/30), the São Paulo Deliberative Council approved the partnership and ticketing operations contract with Ticketmaster by a wide margin, recording 184 votes in favor, 44 against, and just one abstention.

The approval represents immediate financial relief for the club’s board, making possible an upfront initial injection of R$ 140 million (with R$ 110 million in advance ticketing/Sócio Torcedor revenue and R$ 30 million paid upfront for the five-year concession of Morumbi’s 29A luxury box).

The initiative aims to fix a long-standing fragmentation in the club’s management by unifying the membership program database and the ticket issuance system. The technological integration will eliminate intermediate steps in the São Paulo supporter’s purchasing journey, streamlining access to Morumbi Stadium and enabling the development of personalized benefit packages based on consumer profiles.

Leaders highlight modernization and pioneering spirit

São Paulo president Harry Massis emphasized the strategic importance of signing with a giant in the international sector to support the club’s restructuring goals.

“This is a very important agreement for São Paulo and represents a major step forward for the club. We are beginning a partnership with a world-class company that brings experience, technology, and the capacity to contribute to the development of new solutions for our supporters. It is an agreement that opens up new possibilities for us to keep strengthening São Paulo and our relationship with our fans,” the president said.

On Ticketmaster Brazil’s side, CEO Donovan Ferreti highlighted Tricolor’s historic role in the development of loyalty programs in South American football.

“São Paulo has a long track record of pioneering the adoption of new ideas and the use of technology to strengthen its relationship with supporters; it is the club that created the Sócio Torcedor concept in Brazil. We bring experience from sports markets around the world, but the most important thing is to combine that knowledge with the understanding that São Paulo and its fans have in order to develop solutions that work for the club and for the Brazilian market,” Ferreti said.

The club’s executive marketing director, André Marques, reaffirmed that the agreement goes beyond simply changing ticketing providers, representing an operational overhaul aimed at reducing service bottlenecks and friction at stadium entry.

“This is, above all, a victory for São Paulo supporters. We now have one of the most recognized companies in the world in the sector to make the experience simpler, more integrated, and more relevant for those who come to Morumbi and for those who live their passion for São Paulo through Sócio Torcedor. More than a new ticketing platform, this partnership allows us to rethink the entire supporter journey, using technology and information to reduce friction, create new experiences, and further strengthen the relationship between the club and its fans,” said the Tricolor director.

Memorial revitalization and market expansion

In addition to ticketing and membership operations, the agreement provides for direct investment in the modernization and renovation of the Luiz Cássio dos Santos Werneck Memorial, located on the Morumbi grounds. The project to restructure the historic space will be led and curated directly by the club, in joint action with the partner company, with the goal of creating an interactive and immersive experience for visitors on non-matchdays.

For Ticketmaster — a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) that processes more than 600 million tickets annually in over 40 countries — the alliance with the São Paulo institution consolidates a strategic move toward expansion in Brazilian football, one of the company’s priority pillars for growth in Latin America.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.