Plex has partnered with Fandango to sell movie theater tickets to users searching for something to stream. Starting today, Plex users in the US will see a Fandango ticketing option on title pages for movies currently playing in theaters. Clicking through takes them to Fandango, where they can find showtimes and buy tickets. Fandango has sold movie tickets since 2000.
The integration also enables direct attribution through Kochava, which the companies say will give studios and advertisers greater visibility into how campaigns and audience engagement translate into ticket sales. Fandango says it sells tickets for 31,000 movie theater screens in the US. The deal lets Fandango use data from Plex's streaming service, including ratings and cross-platform viewing, to gain insight into audience intent. Plex says users of the service make more than 100 million streaming decisions each month.
Jerramy Hainline, executive vice president at Fandango, said in a statement that Plex has a unique view into what movie fans are actively considering, from what they search for to what they watch across services. He said connecting those discovery signals with Fandango ticketing makes it easier for fans to turn interest into a trip to the theater, while giving studios and advertisers a more direct, measurable path to ticket sales.
Scott Olechowski, Plex's co-founder and chief product officer, said Plex aims to be the place where people can discover what to watch, regardless of where that content lives. He added that for studios and advertisers, the companies are creating a more measurable path from discovery to purchase, helping marketers understand which campaigns are converting. Content discovery is a frequently cited challenge in the streaming industry, with smart TV OS operators, streaming service providers, and generative AI chatbots among those trying to crack it.
The Fandango partnership contrasts with Plex's media server business, which lets users share movies they own with friends and family without paying Hollywood licensing fees. The move into ticket sales comes over two-and-a-half years after Plex launched its streaming service, where people can rent movies. Plex also launched a free ad-supported television streaming service and has added social media capabilities to its platform.
These ventures give Plex additional revenue streams beyond its media server software. 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. Plex says it collects data from media server users searching on Plex. On the media-hosting side, Plex has discussed challenges in making lifetime passes financially sustainable, and its new businesses may help fund advancements or maintenance to its media software.
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