Already in 2022 it has supported three hugely successful post-pandemic gatherings in the form of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Munich 2022 European Championships and the Volleyball Women’s World Championship in the Netherlands.

Currently it is involved in the delayed Rugby League World Cup 2021 which is taking place at multiple venues in England, with the men’s competition already underway - the hosts having recently played in front of 43,199 people at St James’ Park, Newcastle - and women’s and wheelchair tournaments due to start next month.

And the next big call upon the supportive efforts of Ticketmaster, Richard Evans, vice-president of tournaments tells insidethegames, will arrive in December when the company deals with sales for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament in Cape Town.

After selling its first ticket in 1976 from a small printing press in Phoenix, Arizona, Ticketmaster, now based in Los Angeles, has grown exponentially and is now a fully owned and operated subsidiary of Live Nation, one of the world’s largest live entertainment and sports events companies.

Ticketmaster has been involved in supporting three Olympic and Paralympic Games in the last 20 years - Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. More recently it provided ticketing for the 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games in Lima and the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

"We work extensively with sporting bodies across the world - from the National Football League and National Basketball Association in North America, to the Australian Open and the Australian Football League in Australia, and Premier League teams in the UK," Evans said.

"Sport plays a crucial role at Ticketmaster. I think what speaks to this more than anything is the fact that we have a dedicated global division in Ticketmaster Sport.

"Here, myself and the rest of the team focus exclusively on sport and have a large and talented team that come from all kinds of sporting backgrounds - venues, teams, tournaments and agencies.

"Together, we can bring our local expertise and global capabilities to any sporting client in any of the more than 30 countries we operate in.

"My role is to develop and oversee operations for our international tournaments business.

"Drawing on my experience delivering major international tournaments over the last three decades, I work with our clients and prospects to understand and shape their ticketing strategy for success.

"We like to work as a true partner, aligning our objectives and goals with those of our clients right from the get-go. 

"Together, we can utilise Ticketmaster’s vast global and local market experience, data analytics, reach, pricing tools and look at the best operational solution for local markets.

"We also offer our market leading ticketing management tools which enable complete inventory management and the best-in-class user journeys for fans.

"Our dedicated tournaments team is focused solely on providing for tournaments clients and improving our tools and services for what is a unique and demanding area of the business.

"As we look to expand our services and team to new regions, we’re also very excited to be working with a number of federations and tournaments in the early stages of their ticketing strategy set-up for some major upcoming events.

"So there’s much more to come in 2023 and beyond.

"No day is the same for me - and that’s what has kept me coming back for the last 30 years and will do for many more to come."