Tickets.com to Sell Major League Baseball Tickets Online

Tickets.com Inc. said Friday that it will handle online ticket sales for major league baseball beginning next year.

The news was tempered, however, by the Costa Mesa ticketing company’s announcement that it has laid off 30 workers, about 5% of its work force, during the last week to streamline operations following a series of acquisitions.

The baseball contract will give Tickets.com a foothold in a sport that is experiencing growing online ticket sales. Major league baseball sold more than 70 million tickets last year. And some clubs are selling 30% of their non-season tickets online.

The company declined to comment on the financial aspects of the arrangement, but President Tim Kelly said it represents “a significant opportunity for Tickets.com.�

With the popularity of online ticketing growing and competition intensifying among ticket sellers, Tickets.com earlier this year also snagged a deal with Olympic organizers to sell tickets to the 2002 Winter Games over the Internet and conventionally.

“They’re both very, very large deals for us,� Kelly said.

Though most major league baseball teams already sell tickets online, the ticket purchasing process will become standardized under the contract, allowing customers to buy tickets for any team via major league baseball’s Web site. Tickets.com will provide the software and process the orders.

Major league baseball in January secured the Internet ticketing rights for all 30 member teams, Tickets.com said. Agreements with other ticketing agencies that extend beyond the 2000 season will be honored until they expire, the company said.

Tickets.com, which has been restructuring after purchasing 10 companies during the last few years, has been struggling financially as it battles Pasadena-based industry giant Ticketmaster Corp. for ticket-selling contracts nationwide.

Weighed down by one-time acquisition, marketing and infrastructure costs, Tickets.com last month reported a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss of $21.6 million, more than three times the $6-million loss for the comparable period last year. Sales for the quarter more than doubled to $14.1 million.

The company’s stock has been hammered during a market-wide shakeout among Internet retailers, losing 76% of its value so far this year. The stock closed Friday at $3.41, down 9 cents a share, in Nasdaq trading.