Redbox is hoping to turn its kiosks at grocery stores and fast food joints into mini ticket counters nationwide.

The company added tickets to live events and performances in Philadelphia to its kiosks’ inventories and online this week. Redbox Tickets is a pilot program, but the Oakbrook Terrace-based company said it could make its way to other cities nationwide.

Redbox President Anne Saunders said the tickets cost their face value (or less) plus a $1 service fee. She thinks they could bring new audiences to neighborhood venues.

“This gives all of those venue operators and artists an opportunity to market to local customers in a way they didn’t have before,” Saunders said.

Redbox rented to nearly 59 million people every month during its second quarter, Saunders said.

The kiosks in Philadelphia are already dispensing tickets to Villanova football games and a Carrie Underwood concert – for a $1 fee. That’s lower than dominant ticket sites like Ticketmaster, which holds contracts with venues across the country.

Jerry Mickelson is co-founder of Chicago-based concert promoter, Jam Productions. He said Jam, which rents concert venues, has no control over where tickets are sold because those venues have contracts with ticketing companies.  

“Ticketmaster has so many venues under contract,” Mickelson said. “That’s what will determine what Redbox can do to compete.”

But Redbox’s Saunders said the company doesn’t see those ticketing sites as competition.

She said they would “love to work with Ticketmaster” or anyone interested in selling through Redbox, as long as they agree to the $1 service fee.