EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
Takeaways from Powering IRL: What's Next?
10 July 2026
Something is happening in the U.S. economy that does not fit neatly into the prevailing narrative about technology and automation. While artificial intelligence reshapes knowledge work and digital media competes for every spare moment of attention, Americans have been spending more than ever on being somewhere in person.1
Airbnb is looking to experiences.2 Major credit card companies and fintech entrants are making their next consumer-perks bet in live events: American Express has expanded sports and live-experience partnerships such as Formula One access for card members; Capital One promotes Capital One Entertainment for music, sports, dining, pre-sales, VIP packages, and cardholder-exclusive tickets; and Bilt has launched neighborhood live-event programming, including member-only comedy experiences in venues across major U.S. cities.3 Meanwhile, live events have been one of the clearest pockets of consumer-spending growth. Allied Market Research estimates that the global live-events industry was already a $652.6 billion market in 2022 and is projected to reach $1.18 trillion by 2032.4
Elon Musk said it best in identifying industries that may actually see a tailwind from AI and the further commoditization of technology:
“We were looking at data around what industry is growing the fastest…what seems to be growing really fast are live events …when digital media is ubiquitous… the scarce commodity will be live events….(‘Do you think it’s a good industry to invest in?’) Yeah, I do.” 5
Underneath these tailwinds are industries running on poorly built and repurposed tools. Nightclubs, festivals, sports venues, and independent event organizers alike have spent years stitching together five or six different systems that were never built to communicate with each other or designed for the live experience economy. In large part, these businesses have relied on one tool for ticketing, another for reservations, another for point-of-sale, marketing, guest records, and the list goes on, many of which are built on 10+ year-old databases, workflows, and best practices, seldom designed to solve the demands that come with having a client base that only has a few hours each week to generate the majority of their margin.
Speakeasy, the operations and intelligence infrastructure powering live experiences and the IRL economy, was built to close this gap. The company provides an integrated system for ticketing, payments, premium experiences, reservation management, CRM, and direct marketing for venues, event organizers, festivals, and hospitality groups, replacing fragmented legacy tools with a unified, data-driven platform. By consolidating and activating guest-level data across the full lifecycle, Speakeasy enables operators to grow new revenue channels, streamline operations, and deliver more personalized experiences. To date, Speakeasy services hundreds of clients across Nightlife & Bars, Sports & Entertainment, Event Organizers, Experience Creators, and Festivals. Many of the most prominent live experience operators across the following end markets are optimizing their operating stack with this unified, data-first platform:
Music Festivals | Breakaway Music Festival
Across its national festival footprint, Breakaway uses Speakeasy to power every Premium Space Deck reservation, from online bookings through an interactive 3D map to on-site payment collection and reservation management. The platform has helped reduce hardware and payment processing costs, strengthen chargeback protection, simplify deposit management, and create a more efficient operational workflow across multiple markets.
"Speakeasy has helped us evolve our Premium Experiences as we execute our Space Deck operation across 13 festivals in 2026. As we continue to expand, Speakeasy has made our on-site operations more efficient, our guest experience more seamless, and our team better equipped to deliver exceptional hospitality at every festival"
- Head of Premium Experiences, Breakaway Music Festival
Experience Curators | Neon Carnival (Indio)
The invite-only post-Coachella experience is powered by Speakeasy for its premium reservations and guest management operations. The platform enables all premium experiences to be reserved and prepaid in advance, reducing software and payment processing costs while providing organizers with a centralized system to manage one of the industry's most sought-after guest lists.
"Speakeasy helped bring structure to a high-energy environment at Neon Carnival. It gave our team a reliable system to manage operations smoothly throughout the event, especially during peak moments"
- Co-Founder, Zocha Group
Lounges | Drai's After Hours (Las Vegas)
Speakeasy powers the venue's entire guest journey: from advanced ticketing and guest lists to affiliate management and premium reservations through its interactive 3D map and website build, LLM/SEO optimization, and re-targeting solutions via Speakeasy’s in-house marketing suite. By consolidating multiple operational tools into a single platform, Drai's has significantly increased verifiable data collected via their various offerings, unlocked incremental high gross margin revenue channels, and increased pre-arrival revenue capture.
Nightlife | Marquee Skydeck (New York)
Marquee Skydeck utilizes Speakeasy for premium reservations, allowing guests to book directly through an immersive 3D venue map while enabling staff to manage the entire reservation lifecycle through Speakeasy's iOS application. The TAO Group flagship also utilizes Speakeasy’s digital box office solutions, capturing data on every walk-up guest and integrating granular behavioral, repeat visit, and affinity data directly into Speakeasy's CRM and in-house marketing suite.
Event Organizers | The Datey (Dallas)
The Datey utilizes Speakeasy's white-label ticketing platform to deliver a fully branded purchasing experience at the lowest ticketing fees the organizations has incurred to date - $1/ticket. As the creator economy continues to shift towards in-person experiences - with 4 in 5 fans reporting a stronger connection at created-hosted events than traditional brand activations 6 - Speakeasy enables The Datey to capture valuable first-party customer data and build a comprehensive CRM that powers future event planning, marketing initiatives, and long-term audience engagement.
Sports | Fountain City Athletics (Kansas City)
Speakeasy supports Fountain City Athletic with modern ticketing and guest management infrastructure, helping create a more seamless experience for both fans and operators while centralizing event operations.