ITB 26-02TM Ticketing Service (re-enter)

The City of Hampton, Virginia is requesting proposals for an event ticketing system to serve The American Theatre, Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center, and Hampton Arts Education under RFP 27-02TM, with proposals due July 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM. MBE and WBE subcontracting goals of 4.34% and 3.82%, respectively, apply to contracts valued at $100,000 and above.

The scope encompasses an integrated ticketing, CRM, point-of-sale, and class/workshop registration system with minimum hardware deployment of five credit card terminals, four Boca ticket printers, and ticketing scanners across venues. The system must support single, multi-day, and season tickets with multiple price levels; customer data tracking and marketing capabilities; cloud-based access; and real-time reporting and analytics. Vendors must accept all major credit cards and digital payment methods. The City projects approximately 1,987 annual ticket transactions, 3,047 POS transactions, and 520 class/workshop registrations. Anti-scalping functionality is preferred but not required.

The City's anticipated annual contract value is 5% of ticket price plus $0.80 per credit card transaction. Based on most recent fiscal-year revenue of $192,900 (ticketing: $139,000; concessions: $26,000) and a payment mix of 33% cash and 67% credit card, with 69% of transactions occurring online, the current vendor contract expires June 30, 2026. The City is open to models where transaction and processing fees are passed to ticket buyers. Daily settlement and fund batching to municipal accounts are required; the system is not funded by federal funds. Vendors may propose alternative payment processors subject to approval from the City's IT and Finance Departments.

The contract term is one year with four optional one-year renewal periods. Proposals are evaluated on a 100-point scale: Experience (30 points), Capability and Skills (25 points), Services to be Provided (20 points), Costs (20 points), and MBE/WBE participation (5 points). Offerors must be established event ticketing and POS system companies with minimum five references from similar venues and be registered to do business in Virginia. The City will select two or more qualified offerors for negotiation, beginning with the highest-ranked vendor, and reserves the right to award multiple contracts. Three addenda addressing bidder questions and clarifications were issued July 7, 2026.