Atom Tickets is adding yet another big theater chain in the lucrative New York tri-state area with a partnership with Bow Tie Cinemas, stepping up the challenge to its biggest direct competitor, Fandango.

The partnership will bring Atom’s mobile ticketing platform to Bow Tie’s theater chains. The move is yet another step on Atom’s part towards challenging its main competitor, Fandango, for the role of top mobile movie ticket provider.

“We are looking forward to a successful partnership with Atom Tickets,” states Ben Moss, CEO of Bow Tie Cinemas. “We expect that Atom’s sleek and social media-savvy interface will be a great complement to Bow Tie Cinemas’ top quality service and presentation, and that together we can further expand our already growing market share.”

Mobile ticketing
Tickets, like so much paper ephemera that was once a natural part of our commercial lives, has been steadily replaced with digital facsimiles.

Where once customers would spend the morning cutting coupons from a catalogue, the same activity can now be done by browsing on a mobile device.

Similarly, while many tickets were purchased in paper form at the box office or even printed out at home, tickets are now a digital commodity most often found on a cell phone or a QR code.

While most might think of Fandango when considering how to purchase movie tickets on mobile, a name that has increasingly begun to pop up in these conversations is Atom Tickets.

The platform is a fairly new mobile application that lets consumers buy tickets as well as concessions and other movie-related products all through their smartphone.

In the past few months, Atom has added a slew of theater chains to its stable of partners as well as a number of brand partnerships and special promotions.

Atom has now added Bow Tie Cinemas, one of the 15 largest theater chains in the New York area. This partnership adds another 212 screens in the New York tri-state area alone and with a projected seven million customers in 2017, that translates to a major score for Atom.

Mobile movie companion
While many theater chains have at least some sort of mobile presence in the form of a mobile app or mobile-optimized Web site, few have the robustness of features provided by apps such as Fandango and Atom.

For example, Atom has made a number of partnerships that go beyond simple ticket-purchasing.

At AMC theaters, customers can order concessions through the Atom Tickets app to be picked up from the booth, skipping the line and making purchases easier (see story).

The app has also made a few brand partnerships, including one with UberEATS for a private screening of The Founder, with rides offered by Uber and the screening produced by Atom (see story).

Atom is quickly pushing itself to the forefront of mobile movie theater companions with a bevy of features and partnerships to sweeten the deal for customers. With Bow Tie Cinemas now added to its network, Atom has added yet another channel by which it can attract more consumers to its service.

“We’re excited to expand our reach in the New York tri-State Area with the addition of Bow Tie,” said Matthew Bakal, co-founder and executive chairman of Atom Tickets. “The legendary theater chain has always been committed to making moviegoing better—whether it’s at one of their amazing luxury and megaplex cinemas or at their unique art houses and neighborhood theaters—and we’re honored to bring a more convenient and social experience to their guests.”