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The £128,000 deal with run for 12 months, and makes Seatwave the exclusive ticketing provider to the Live Messenger base of 14 million monthly users.

Activity is set to include banner ads targeting frequent event goers and a Windows Live Messenger Tab linking to a Seatwave microsite. Here, users will find content on theatre, sport and music events.

The relationship with Microsoft will also allow the 12 million monthly Windows Live Hotmail users in the UK to sign up for a fortnightly Seatwave newsletter.  As well as ticketing, it will provide users with extensive information on upcoming gigs, theatre, music concerts, sports and other live events across the UK.

Commenting on the new deal, James Burgess, VP of marketing at Seatwave, said: “Our partnerships are all about offering customers as much access to information on events and ticket reselling as possible. Windows Live and MSN are two of the most popular and well-known online brands and we are delighted to be working with them in the coming months.”

The existing secondary ticketing market is currently already worth around £1 billion in the UK, and between £3.5 - £5 billion across Europe, according to Dow Jones.