The Chicago Transit Authority has had some difficulty selling three-day passes for their “L” rail service. According to officials the CTA sold about 635,000 passes total in all of 2011.
But daily deal site Groupon saw some value in the tickets, purchasing 250,000 of them at a price tag of almost $2 million.
The final price tag for the 250,000 passes was $1,882,000, working out to $7.53 for each pass. The CTA will keep all that money.
Groupon also has the option to purchase an additional 250,000 at the same price within a year.
The three days passes are designed to attract tourists and those who don’t regularly use the L to give it a try. Perhaps Groupon believes they can reach that audience better than the CTA can.
Groupon now owns the passes and plans to offer them to their customers for $9, a five-dollar discount from the usual price of $14.
CTA and City Hall officials said the deal is the first time Chicago-based Groupon and a U.S. transit agency have worked a deal to sell fare media.
Regardless the ball is now in Groupon’s court. The CTA has bought out; selling off over a third of all the three-day passes they sold last year.
“You know, we’ll find out. … The risk shifts to Groupon immediately,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool.
