Groupon and Universal Orlando Partner on Theme Park Ticket Sales

Groupon (GRPN) is gearing up to report its 1Q18 financial results on May 9, after recently striking a deal that could stimulate growth in its Travel business. In April, Groupon and Comcast-owned (CMCSA) Universal Orlando Resort entered into a ticket-selling agreement. Under the deal, Groupon will sell various ticket packages to Universal Orlando’s three theme parks in the Orlando area. The theme parks are Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and Universal’s Volcano Bay.

“We’re thrilled to offer the savings and convenience of buying tickets for all three of their [Universal Orlando’s] theme parks through our platform,” said Brian Fields, a Groupon executive.

People buying Universal Orlando theme park tickets through Groupon will enjoy a standard online discount of up to $20 off the gate price and other limited offers.

For Groupon, the deal with Universal Orlando could bolster its offerings in the leisure category, thereby boosting its Travel business. Groupon operates three main business segments: Travel, Local, and Goods. Its Travel segment generated revenue of $29.6 million in 4Q17, representing a fall of 5.0% year-over-year.

Earlier this year, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google updated its advertising rules to demand greater transparency from online ticket resellers. As a result, ticket reseller websites cannot run commercials on Google’s platforms unless they meet certain requirements. 

Google’s crackdown on the secondary ticket market was expected to cut fraud and eliminate unfair competition in the online ticketing market. Groupon could benefit from Google’s clampdown on unscrupulous ticket resellers.

Google, Facebook (FB), and Twitter (TWTR) also banned cryptocurrency commercials from their platforms as part of their consumer-protection efforts.