Last-minute mobile ticketing application Gametime now lets users see which games and shows their friends are planning to attend and find the closest available seats  via a new feature called Connect.

The new feature acts as a prospective social network, helping friends connect through shared experiences. The feature is now live for dozens of venues in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles markets, with additional venues and markets in the works.

“Going to games and shows is a social experience,” said Brad Griffith, founder and CEO of Gametime. “People go in groups of two to twenty and our view is the more participants the better.

“The world needs a radically inclusive future that helps people get together with their friends more often,” he said. “On the flip side, performers love to play to packed houses.

“On both sides of the coin, the more people who know their friends are doing something fun, the better.”

Connecting fans
The new Connect features lives on the tab bar in the Gametime iOS app. Users who sign in with Facebook can discover their friends’ planned activities within the stream.

Users will see upcoming games and shows their friends will be attending who are also on Gametime. By selecting “Join Friend,” users can see the closest seats available to their friends.

Connect also displays friends that are selling tickets for upcoming events with personalized messaging describing the experience at those seat locations.

Connect goes live today for Gametime users in the SF Bay Area and Los Angeles. The offering will expand to additional markets in the coming weeks.

By combining a mobile app-based marketplace with social networking-like capabilities, Gametime hopes to provide a more intuitive and convenient way for friends to meet up.

To support the launch, Gametime created a video highlighting the story of two friends’ day as they gather more friends to attend a game.

Social meets mobile ticketing
Gametime was launched in 2013 and has been downloaded 2 million times since, enabling fans to buy last-minute tickets for more than 600 teams’ and artists’ live events in 50 markets. Gametime presents available tickets with in-seat panoramic views. It boasts a two-tap purchase process and delivers tickets directly to smartphone without the need for printing.

The new Connect feature on Gametime is the latest example of how mobile ticketing is experiencing a new flurry of innovation in 2016, with social network a big part of the focus.

On the heels of Ticketmaster and Eventbrite beginning to sell tickets directly via Facebook earlier this year, SAP Event Ticketing recently hopped on the bandwagon and introduced its own social ticketing platform (see story).

In April, Regal Entertainment Group teamed up with mobile application Atom Tickets, which enables consumers to send invitations to friends via social media, pre-order concessions and purchase advance tickets (see story).