Ticket Trading Site Launches AJAX-Powered Seating Maps

JavaScriptSearch
Thursday, September 7, 2006; 07:48 AM

StubHub announced the launch of StubHub Maps, interactive seating maps that make it easy to compare and choose tickets for events at leading venues. The new maps range from storied Yankee Stadium and the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field, to state of the art Qwest Field in Seattle and the brand new Cardinals Stadium in Arizona.

"StubHub Maps represents a major step forward in our ongoing mission to provide fans with the fastest, most convenient, ticketing experience possible," said Jeff Fluhr, founder and CEO of StubHub. "We have once again reinvented the customer experience for ticket buyers and sellers."

Using StubHub Maps, fans buying tickets can easily choose where they want to sit from the rapidly growing choice of available tickets in the marketplace. Fans selling extra tickets can immediately view comparable tickets in the same or similar sections and set their prices competitively. In yet another industry first, StubHub developers have created a seamless web ticketing application by combining new technologies including AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and Adobe Flash Professional 8.

Features include the ability to: Select an event and immediately see a list of tickets side-by-side with an interactive map highlighting all available seating sections;  Set search filters for quantity of tickets and/or price range, and the map and the list of tickets will update the page to display the available tickets that match your request, with no page change or new window opening necessary; Roll over the map to see price ranges by section, or click on any highlighted section and immediately see the tickets available; Click on the map legend to highlight tickets for entire seating zones.

Sellers can list tickets for sale and set prices on StubHub 24 hours a day through the web site or by using inventory upload tools. Seating information provided by the sellers is then "scrubbed" by StubHub with proprietary technology to normalize the ticket data and assign it to the appropriate seating section within the map. The Flash-enabled map then lights up upon receiving XML feeds of the scrubbed ticket data. When a shopper clicks on any section within the map, Ajax is used to instantly refresh the list of available tickets without reloading the web page.

"The ticket locator page is the most user friendly site ever," said StubHub customer Paul Allmon. "I love being able to just roll over a section and see what is available with pricing. No more searching through lists of tickets and having to compare to a seating chart."    

After receiving positive community feedback following the launch of the first forty StubHub Maps, which include all current MLB playoff contenders and each of StubHub's eight NFL team partners, new interactive maps for all major U.S. sports, concert and theatre venues are planned to be launched at a rate of several per week.