Tech company’s outage leaves fans unable to download tickets

Category: Sports

Listening

Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. secondary / ˈsɛk ənˌdɛr i / (adj.) – related to something that’s not the main or primary source of something
    Example:

    You will need to double-check if this information is true since it came from a secondary source.


  2. marketplace / ˈmɑr kɪtˌpleɪs / (n.) – a space for selling items, which can be online or an actual store
    Example:

    Shopping is much more convenient in an online marketplace.


  3. suspend / səˈspɛnd / (v.) – to stop something temporarily
    Example:

    Classes were suspended because of the typhoon.


  4. return / rɪˈtɜrn / (v.) – to respond to something in the same way
    Example:

    Claire lost her phone, so she wasn’t able to return our calls right away.


  5. up and running / ʌp ænd ˈrʌnɪŋ / (idiom) – used to say that a machine or system is working
    Example:

    The new ticketing system is now up and running.


Article

Read the text below.

A technology company that handles ticketing for many of the biggest college football programs encountered a problem that left fans across the country unable to download digital tickets onto their smartphones for several hours.


The outage also led StubHub, one of the biggest secondary ticket marketplaces, to suspend sales until the issue was resolved.


Paciolan is the largest primary ticketing company in college athletics, with 125 clients, including 75% of the Power Five, according to the Irvine, California-based company’s website.


The nature of the problem wasn’t clear. Phone and email messages seeking comment were not immediately returned.


Schools including Nebraska, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, Pitt, UCLA, Wisconsin, Michigan and Cincinnati reported problems with digital tickets.


Schools said fans trying to download tickets began encountering problems on the morning of September 10. StubHub and several schools reported Paciolan’s system was up and running at about 4:30 p.m. Eastern.


Stadiums and arenas have mostly phased out paper tickets and gone to digital ticketing.


Schools affected by the outage sent emails to ticketholders that they could present at the gate for entry. Some also encouraged fans to go to the ticket office for assistance.


This article was provided by The Associated Press.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

  • What should Paciolan do for the customers who experienced inconvenience because of its ticketing system failure? Discuss.
  • Paciolan didn’t respond right away to phone and email messages seeking comment. Do you think it’s the responsibility of companies to inform the public about their situation right away? Why or why not? Discuss.

Discussion B

  • What do you think are the pros and cons of selling tickets online? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, should all kinds of tickets become digital? Why or why not? Discuss.