Smattering of rivals confront Ticketmaster.

LOS ANGELES - Don't call Ticketmaster if you want to see Cirque du Soleil in Santa Monica this summer.

The Canadian circus troupe is importing its own ticketing service to handle its U.S. tour. Admission Network U.S.A. Inc., which is owned jointly by Cirque du Soleil and Montreal, Canada-based Admission Network, opened its headquarters office in La Jolla last month. Cirque du Soleil is currently its sole client, but if things work out the service hopes to do something that few so far have accomplished: take a bite out of the Ticketmaster empire.

Last July, the U.S. Justice Department dropped its antitrust probe of Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster Group Inc., deciding Ticketmaster does not hold a monopoly on the U.S. ticketing industry despite claims to the contrary made by rock group Pearl Jam.

Nine months later, a handful of companies like Admission Network have indeed made slight inroads in the ticketing business. None of them charges substantially lower service fees than their larger rival, however, which may blunt complaints from consumers that Ticketmaster's fees are excessive due to a lack of competition.

Edges start to 'fray'

Analysts say Ticketmaster is still by far the dominant player in the ticketing game, and has the only viable national network of ticket outlets and venues. But, in the words of one of its competitors, "The edges are starting to fray a little bit."

Seattle-based Pearl Jam filed an antitrust complaint against Ticketmaster in 1994, accusing the company of gouging consumers with excessive service fees. When the band went on tour last summer, it hired Costa Mesa-based ETM Entertainment Network Inc. to handle the ticketing. But after playing in public parks and small venues not controlled by Ticketmaster for less than a month, Pearl Jam was forced to abort its tour because of an illness suffered by lead singer Eddie Vedder.

The band later claimed that it was impossible to launch a national tour without Ticketmaster, but U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno disagreed. She stated last July that there was ample evidence of new enterprises entering the industry.

ETM is one of them. After gaining valuable experience from the Pearl Jam tour, the company is now proceeding with plans to launch a network of electronic ticketing centers across the Southland.

ETM intends to install 110 kiosks in Hughes and Gelson's supermarkets and Border's bookstores from Bakersfield to San Diego by the end of the year, according to co-founder and Senior Vice President Peter Schniedermeier. Besides concert tickets, the kiosks will sell airplane tickets, compact discs, concert T-shirts and other merchandise. Service fees have not yet been determined.

Nailing some deals

Schniedermeier claims to have signed deals with several well-known acts and major venues, but he declined to name any of them. He acknowledged that some venues are former Ticketmaster customers that switched to ETM when their contracts expired.

"Ticketmaster has about 2,000 contracts out there with venues," Schniedermeier said. "Every year, a few hundred come up, so you just have to play a waiting game."

While ETM's system is not yet operational, a handful of other companies have successfully wrested ticketing contracts for major events from Ticketmaster in the past year.

Perhaps the best-known of these is Madison, Wis.-based ProTix Inc., which thanks to a partnership with IBM managed to land the contract to sell tickets for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. While the business of selling 11 million tickets for the Olympics represents a substantial coup, it's only a one-time shot, ProTix's permanent business is fairly small, representing one venue in Hartford, Conn., the on-campus venues at the University of New Mexico, and a half-dozen or so small and medium-sized facilities in Washington, D.C.

"Who's the viable competitor for Ticketmaster? I don't know that there is one," said ProTix President Pete Hanson. "We do compete with them, but we do it on our terms and we usually lose."

Perhaps a greater threat to Ticketmaster's dominance of the North American ticketing industry is Cambridge, Mass.-based Next Inc. Formed as a partnership between promoter Don Law and software company founder Sherman Wolf. Next controls ticketing at several major Boston-area venues owned by Law.

Signing Eastern clients

And in recent months, it has been snatching up former Ticketmaster venues along the East Coast, such as the 15,000-seat Ballpark at Old Orchard Beach in Portland, Maine and the 4,500-seat Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg, Mass.

While Ticketmaster tacks on a fee of $5.25 to the price of a rock concert ticket, Next charges $4.75 to customers who order using its automated phone system or $5.75 to customers who buy through its outlets in comic book stores.

Admission Network U.S.A., the newest player in the ticketing industry, adds a service fee of $3.50 to Cirque du Soleil tickets bought through its outlets, which include Tempo music and video stores and other independent video and audio retailers. The fee for ordering by phone is $3.75.

Keith Kelly, the company's general manager, said he plans to hire 25 to 40 employees by the end of the year. Although Cirque du Soleil is the company's only client, Kelly said he plans to grow by making deals with Ticketmaster venues when their current contracts expire.

"There are probably lots of venues and producers and promoters out there who are looking for an alternative," Kelly said.