Plex Partners with Fandango to Sell Movie Theater Tickets

Plex Adds Fandango Ticketing for Theatrical Releases

Plex has partnered with Fandango to sell movie theater tickets through its platform. Starting with the announcement, Plex users in the US will see a Fandango ticketing option on title pages for movies currently playing in theaters, allowing them to click through to Fandango to find showtimes and purchase tickets.

Fandango, which has sold movie tickets since 2000, says it sells tickets for 31,000 movie theater screens in the US.

Turning Discovery Signals Into Ticket Sales

The integration also enables direct attribution through Kochava, giving studios and advertisers greater visibility into how campaigns and audience engagement translate into ticket sales. The deal allows Fandango to leverage data from Plex's streaming service, which Plex claims generates more than 100 million streaming decisions each month, including ratings and cross-platform viewing, to gain insight into audience intent.

"Plex has a unique view into what movie fans are actively considering, from what they're searching for to what they're watching across services," said Jerramy Hainline, executive vice president at Fandango. "By connecting those discovery signals with Fandango ticketing, we're making it easier for fans to turn that interest into a trip to the theater, while giving studios and advertisers a more direct, measurable path to ticket sales."

A Broader Push Beyond Media Server Software

The ticketing partnership contrasts with Plex's media server business, which lets users share movies they own with friends and family without paying Hollywood licensing fees. Plex launched its streaming service, where people can rent movies, over two and a half years ago. It has also introduced a free ad-supported television (FAST) streaming service and added social media capabilities to its platform, giving it additional revenue streams beyond its media server software.

Scott Olechowski, Plex's co-founder and chief product officer, said the company is aiming to be the place where people can discover what to watch, regardless of where that content lives. He added that for studios and advertisers, Plex is creating a more measurable path from discovery to purchase, helping marketers understand which campaigns are converting.

The businesses coexist. Someone who only wants to use Plex for media hosting does not have to use its on-demand streaming services and can opt out of some of Plex's data sharing, though Plex says it collects data from media server users searching on Plex. Plex has discussed challenges in making lifetime passes financially sustainable, and the new ventures may help fund advancements and maintenance for the media software.

Sources: Ars Technica