TicketGuard

Inspiration

As devoted football fans, we have always looked forward to watching the World Cup in person. However, during the ticket-buying process, we found that ticket prices were generally high, prices varied significantly across platforms, and the internet contained many fake websites, scam links, and tickets from unknown sources. It is difficult for ordinary fans to determine whether a website is trustworthy or whether a ticket is worth its price.

Therefore, we decided to develop TicketGuard. We hope to help every football fan purchase tickets that are reliable, reasonably priced, and offer the expected view, allowing them to focus on the match itself instead of worrying about scams or overpaying.

What it does

When a user submits a ticket-purchasing link, TicketGuard analyzes the ticket from multiple perspectives:

Website Risk Detection: Checks whether the link or ticketing website contains suspicious characteristics, helping users identify potential scams.

Ticket Price Evaluation: Compares the current ticket price with similar tickets in the same stadium, nearby sections, and the broader market to determine whether the price is reasonable.

Seat View Analysis: Matches relevant Seat View information based on the stadium, seating ring, and section, then provides an intuitive view score.

Comprehensive Purchase Recommendation: Combines website credibility, price, and seat view to provide users with clear and understandable results, helping them make purchasing decisions with greater confidence.

How we built it

We first collected and organized seating sections, seating rings, and view-score data from multiple World Cup stadiums. We then developed a standardized seat evaluation system. By analyzing information such as the stadium, Section, and Ring, the system can estimate the general viewing experience from different seats.

For risk detection, we extract features such as the domain name, URL structure, security protocol, and other risk indicators from the ticket-purchasing link to evaluate the credibility of the website. The price evaluation module compares the listed price with similar seats and market prices to identify whether it is significantly overpriced.

Finally, we integrated risk detection, price comparison, and seat-view analysis into a simple and intuitive interface. Users only need to enter a link to quickly receive a comprehensive ticket-purchasing report.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges we encountered was that seat-naming conventions differ across stadiums. Some stadiums use numeric Sections, while others include letters, prefixes, or special area names. Therefore, we needed to clean and standardize the data.

Another challenge was that different locations within the same Section could have significantly different views and prices. It is difficult to accurately represent the experience of every individual seat using only the stadium and section number. To address this, we combined seating rings, section locations, and existing scores to provide users with a reasonable view estimate while clearly stating that the result is a reference rather than an absolute judgment.

In addition, ticket prices change rapidly depending on match popularity, purchase timing, and market supply and demand. This increased the difficulty of collecting and evaluating price data.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What makes us most proud is that TicketGuard does more than check whether a link is safe. It combines three issues that are usually handled separately: risk, price, and seat view.

We organized more than 1,000 seat-view data points across 16 major football stadiums and developed a scoring system that compares different seating rings and sections. Ultimately, we transformed complex data into simple, intuitive, and practical ticket-purchasing recommendations.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned that the ticket-buying experience depends not only on price but also on transparency. Even when a ticket is legitimate, it may still be a poor purchase if it is significantly overpriced or offers a view far below the user's expectations.

We also learned how to clean and organize non-standardized data from different stadiums, transform information from multiple dimensions into a unified score, and provide responsible and understandable analysis when the available data is incomplete.

What's next for TicketGuard

Next, we hope to further expand TicketGuard's stadium and match data and integrate more up-to-date ticket-market prices so that price evaluations can dynamically reflect market changes.

We also plan to:

Add more precise row and seat-number analysis. Provide interactive stadium maps and more realistic seat-view previews. Build a user-reporting and website-reputation system. Support more sporting events, concerts, and large live events. Develop a browser extension that displays risk and price alerts while users browse ticketing websites. Our ultimate goal is to make TicketGuard a trusted safety assistant that every spectator can use before purchasing a ticket.

Built With

• aviewfrommyseat
• css
• html
• javascript
• python
• ticketmaster