What ticket data is, where it comes from and where to get it
Here are the 5 kinds of ticket data and what each one does not show. Our numbers come from the Ticketmaster, AXS and Vivid Seats events we track, each with its sample size.
Ticket data is every number recorded about an event's tickets. It covers how many tickets are listed, at what price, where, and what was reported after the show. Most of what you can get is listing data. Real sales figures are rare. A listing price is not a sale price.
What ticket data is
The ticket count, listing price, seat location, onsale date and box office total are all ticket data. If it is a number about an event's tickets, it counts.
Ticket data comes from 2 sides. Primary is the first sale of a ticket, through a seller like Ticketmaster or AXS. Any sale after that is secondary, on a marketplace like StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek or TickPick.
You will also see it called ticket sales data or data ticketing. (If you searched for help desk ticket data analysis, this page is about event tickets.)
The 5 kinds of ticket data and where each one comes from
Check the last column before you use a number.
| Kind | What it shows | Where it comes from | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Primary inventory and prices | Tickets remaining and the lowest primary price | The seller's own event page (Ticketmaster, AXS) | Tickets held back. Why the ticket count fell (tickets bought or taken off sale). |
| 2. Secondary listings | Listing count, get-in price and median listing price | Marketplace event pages | What a buyer paid. These are asking prices. |
| 3. Sold data | The price a ticket sold for | A marketplace's own records, or estimated from listings that change | Sold data is rare. Estimated sold data can count a relisted ticket as sold. |
| 4. Event details | Date, venue, capacity, presale and onsale dates | The seller's event page and the venue | How many tickets are left or what they cost |
| 5. Box office reports after the show | Tickets sold and gross, for shows that are reported | Pollstar and Billboard Boxscore | Shows that were not reported. Pollstar's gross leaves out taxes, ticketing fees and secondary prices. |
The get-in price in the table is the cheapest listing for an event. Sort every listing by price and the middle one is the median listing price.
Before the show, the seller normally does not publish tickets sold. The closest number is tickets remaining. We cover that in how to see how many tickets have sold.
A listing price is not a sale price
A listing price is what a seller asks. A sale price is what a buyer paid. Check 2 things before you use a listing price.
Check the average first. A few very high listings can pull the average listing price up. Across those events (about 66,000, each with 5 or more listings), the average was a median 12% above the median. Go by the median listing price.
Then check the fees. On Vivid Seats, the price shown with fees was about 37% above the seller's price before fees. That is from 428 events sampled September 28 to 30, 2026. It was higher on cheap tickets (about 50% on tickets under $25). No checkout was run, so tax is not included.
Some sources store prices before fees and some store them with fees. The same listing then gives you 2 different numbers. Find out which one you are looking at before you compare 2 sources.
A listing that leaves is not a sale either
We checked this on 32 Vivid Seats events (August to September 2026). On those events we also tracked how many tickets were listed. The listings that left added up to about 131,000 tickets. But the number of tickets listed fell by about 5,300, on the events where it fell at all. Most listings that leave are relisted by the seller.
So if you count every listing that leaves as sold, the total can come out too high. We use a listing that lost tickets while still on sale as the best sign of a sale. We say sign, not proof.
Where to get ticket data
Pick the row that matches what you need. This is how each site described itself on October 1, 2026.
| What you need | Where to get it | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Prices and alerts for 1 event, as a fan | The SeatGeek, TickPick and Gametime apps | Price alerts inside each app, for that app's own listings. |
| Data on many events, as a broker | TicketFlipping | TicketFlipping starts at $99 a month. Toolbox shows remaining ticket counts and primary and secondary inventory on a supported event page. Flare tracks the events you favorite over time. |
| Numbers in your own code, as a developer | The Flare API | The Flare API is on our Advanced plan ($999/mo). It exports inventory history, Vivid Seats sold data and StubHub listing trends. |
| Totals after the show | Pollstar and Billboard Boxscore | Tickets sold and gross, for shows that are reported. |
If you are a fan buying 2 tickets, the marketplace apps are enough. Paid broker tools, ours included, are for people who buy many tickets. See our ticket price tracker guide for more on the free options.
What our tracked data covers and what it does not
In the past 12 months we tracked primary ticket inventory or prices for about 100,000 Ticketmaster and AXS events. About 88,000 were on Ticketmaster and about 16,000 on AXS, for events dated October 2025 to September 2026. Not all AXS events are tracked (they are tracked when brokers favorite them).
About 1 in 3 shows (33%) added tickets after the public onsale. The median drop was 81 tickets. That is 21,205 of 65,012 concert, comedy and theater shows from October 2025 to September 2026. It comes from our 2026 Drop Report.
- Our sold data is for Vivid Seats events only. We have none for any other marketplace.
- Secondary prices are asking prices (not sales).
- A listing that lost tickets is a sign of a sale, not proof of one.
- Nothing on this page is a prediction. Our numbers describe what happened in tracked data.
- The average and median listing prices are from about 66,000 Vivid Seats events with 5 or more listings. We counted them in late September 2026. They are US events dated October 2026 to March 2027, with parking and add-ons removed. Prices are asking prices and do not include tax.
- The fee figure is from 428 Vivid Seats events sampled September 28 to 30, 2026. We compared the price shown with fees against the seller's price before fees. No checkout was run.
- The listings that left are from 32 Vivid Seats events (August to September 2026). We also tracked tickets listed on those events.
- Primary tracking covers about 100,000 Ticketmaster and AXS events dated October 2025 to September 2026. The tickets added figure is from 65,012 concert, comedy and theater shows in the same months.
- These numbers do not cover sale prices, secondary marketplaces other than Vivid Seats or future prices. Numbers pulled October 1, 2026.
How to get ticket data by API
An API sends the numbers to your own spreadsheet or code, so you do not copy them by hand. The Flare API exports inventory history for the primary events you track, Vivid Seats sold data and StubHub listing trends. It is on the Advanced plan ($999/mo). The ticket data API page has the details.
Questions people ask
What is ticket data?
Ticket data is every number recorded about the tickets for an event. That includes tickets remaining, listing prices, sold prices where they exist, event details and box office totals.
Where can I find ticket sales data?
After a show, Pollstar and Billboard Boxscore publish tickets sold and gross for shows that are reported. For concert ticket sales data on 1 tour, start with those box office reports. Before a show, sold data is rare. Paid broker tools, ours included, sell data on many events.
Does StubHub show what tickets sold for?
No, not that we found. We looked for a public sold-price history on StubHub's pages and did not find one. An event page shows the current listings and their asking prices. Our own sold data is for Vivid Seats events only.
Does a listed price show what tickets sell for?
No. A listed price is what the seller asks. The ticket can sell for a different price, get relisted or never sell.
Is there a free source of ticket price data?
Yes. SeatGeek, TickPick and Gametime offer price alerts inside their own apps for their own listings. Each site described itself that way on October 1, 2026.
Export ticket data for the events you track
The Flare API is for brokers and developers. It exports inventory history for the primary events you track, Vivid Seats sold data and StubHub listing trends. It is on the Advanced plan ($999/mo).
See the ticket data APISee which venues and artists add tickets after the onsale
The 2026 Drop Report names them.
Get the free Drop ReportFree by email.