User:Stephanie BINK/StubHub draft
American ticket brokering company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It is a subsidiary of StubHub Holdings. The company was founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr in San Francisco. It grew quickly, but Baker had a falling out with Fluhr and left the company in 2004. Fluhr sold StubHub to eBay in 2007 for US$310 million.
Comment: @Encoded and Stephanie BINK:, Looks good. Feel free to move it and note on the talk page so everyone watching knows how we got to that point. Stephanie, for the additional content, you obviously are free to make the case to tighten it up but I think this version gets us way closer than we would be if you had requested smaller revisions over time. CNMall41 (talk) 20:21, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: @CNMall41:, all done - will let you double check is all good before moving across. Happy to do the move once thumbs up is given :) Thanks, Encoded Talk 💬 18:50, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: @Encoded:, I think it would be find to put it back in for now. I think even with it in there is a huge improvement over what is currently there. Stephanie BINK can make a separate request for its cleanup or removal should they feel it needs so. if you want to add back whatever information you feel is appropriate I think we can then move it to the mainspace. Thanks for the work here. CNMall41 (talk) 02:15, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: @CNMall41:, No worries! I agree that a separate section for it would not be ideal here, I think it being in history is appropriate. I also just noticed that the Julien Lavallee news story was reduced and quotes removed, I think they should be retained if possible, particularly
"exploitative tactics" that "gam[e] the ticket marketplace and put entertainment beyond the reach of millions of fans who can’t compete with large-scale scalping operations."
. I'm not sure what the outcome of that was (so feel free to ignore if it's irrelevant) but it might be good to include it as it sounds important to that issue. Other than those two points no objections to anything else, I think that this new article is much better overall! Thanks, Encoded Talk 💬 19:11, 29 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: @Encoded:, Thanks for the review. I understand the reputation management comment. There is always a fight between reputation management and POV-pushing and Wikipedia often becomes the landscape for people to do both. I am a fan of WP:NOCRIT as while negative information about a company is deserving of inclusion a lot of times, painting it in a separate section is not NPOV in my opinion. @Stephanie BINK:, the concern seems to be that too much of the "legal issues" information was removed. If you can identify and take another stab at this we can re-review. I would support not putting it into a separate section for "legal issues," but anything deserving of inclusion should remain somewhere in the content. CNMall41 (talk) 11:05, 29 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: No worries, hope you had a nice holiday! I've had a read through and looked at the sources, I like the draft overall and the sourcing is good, but I feel some detail has been removed from some past events. For example, the 2006 New York Yankees season-ticket holders being suspended got a single line in this version, but three in the previous draft that provided more details about the issue and StubHub's response to the suspension which I think is useful, it's good to know how the company responded. I think some of the content deserves more weight, and that by mashing everything into the history it feels like it has been "reputation managed" too much. Not going to approve/deny right now pending other opinions. Thanks, Encoded Talk 💬 22:58, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: Appreciate. Just couldn't get my head around reviewing it, likely because the holidays were coming up. I was told we could mark up the copy here or change what was needed in the userspace. The previous time I moved it to my userspace first which was also a waste of time as it created an unecessary step in the process. Let me know if I can assist. CNMall41 (talk) 20:22, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: Hey @CNMall41: thanks for the ping, I'll have a look at this now! Encoded Talk 💬 20:19, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: @Encoded:, not sure if you remember the COI request on Viagogo, but this one is similar if you want to review. It is pretty long so I haven't dug too deep as of yet. The draft for Viagogo I reviewed in its entirety to save Stephanie BINK from piece mailing dozens of requests over time which I feel is more time consuming for everyone. Let me know if you want to review this as well. If not, I will get to it sometime this week. CNMall41 (talk) 20:17, 28 December 2025 (UTC)
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | March 2000 in San Francisco, United States |
| Founders | |
Area served | North America |
Key people | |
| Services | Event ticket sales |
| Revenue |  US$1.77 billion (2024) |
Number of employees | 650 (2022) |
| Parent | StubHub Holdings |
| Website | stubhub |
StubHub entered into partnerships with professional sports leagues and companies including Major League Baseball and Anschutz Entertainment Group after being purchased by eBay and was the first company to purchase an advertisement patch on an NBA jersey. Revenue reached US$2 billion by 2014. The company was a subject of investigations into ticket scalping by the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority. Baker repurchased StubHub in 2020 for approximately US$4 billion. The company is led by Baker and president Nayaab Islam.
History
Founding and early years
Eric Baker had the idea for an online secondhand event ticket marketplace after he struggled to purchase secondhand tickets for a showing of The Lion King on Broadway.[1] He began developing the concept with Jeff Fluhr as part of a competition while both were students at Stanford Graduate School of Business.[2] In March 2000, the pair incorporated StubHub in San Francisco to act as that marketplace. The company raised US$600,000 in seed funding by August 2000. Fluhr left school to be chief executive officer of StubHub; Baker graduated in 2001 and became company president.[3] That year, StubHub signed its first deal with a professional sports team, partnering with the Seattle Mariners.[4] In 2002, eBay was in talks to acquire StubHub for US$20 million, although the agreement had later "fallen apart over price."[5] By its third year of operation, StubHub had 60 employees.[3]
Fluhr described a 2004 falling out between himself and Baker over the company direction. Baker wanted to develop partnerships with sports leagues while Fluhr preferred to focus on building the StubHub brand. The difference in direction led to Baker leaving the company while retaining a 10 percent ownership stake.[1][2][3][6] Baker founded competing agency Viagogo to operate in European markets in 2006.[7] StubHub had a positive cash flow in 2005 with sales of approximately US$200 million and revenues of approximately US$50 million.[8][3] The company successfully lobbied for law changes in New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania regarding ticket sales and the amount above face value for which tickets could be sold.[3] StubHub made approximately US$6,500 in campaign donations to Florida legislators while lobbying for the law change in that state.[9][10] In 2006, the value of tickets sold on the platform was approximately US$400 million and it generated approximately US$100 million in revenue. The company employed approximately 350 people at 12 locations.[2][3]
Acquisition by eBay
Fluhr sold StubHub to eBay in 2007 for US$310 million and left the company.[1] Chris Tsakalakis became company president.[11][12] By 2008, StubHub was selling approximately US$5 billion in tickets annually.[13] It had partnerships with 30 college and professional sports teams, including those in the NFL and NBA, by the time of eBay's purchase.[14] Some teams took exception to StubHub's business model, with the New England Patriots suing the company in November 2006 for allegedly encouraging customers to break Massachusetts law by selling tickets for more than US$2 above their face value. StubHub countersued, saying the Patriots were engaging in unfair trade practices.[2][15] A Massachusetts Superior Court judge in 2007 ordered StubHub to provide the Patriots with a list of 13,000 users who had sold or purchased game tickets.[16] The suit was settled under undisclosed terms in 2009.[17]
In 2006, more than 100 New York Yankees season-ticket holders suspected of reselling their regular-season seats on StubHub received letters denying them the right to buy playoff tickets and barring them from buying season tickets for the 2007 season. StubHub criticized the policy as "a witch hunt against us and eBay for giving fans more access to these games".[18] The New York Yankees revoked the season tickets of those who resold them on StubHub, saying that doing so violated its licensing policy.[2][19]
Ticketmaster sued StubHub in 2007 for offering "official premium tickets" to events for which Ticketmaster had exclusivity deals. The suit claimed StubHub intentionally interfered with Ticketmaster's venue contracts.[13] StubHub said the tickets were being resold by the management company for the acts, Ticketmaster's fees had been paid, and that StubHub never owned any ticket inventory.[20] The following year, Ticketmaster developed a method of paperless ticketing that made it difficult to transfer or resell tickets, implementing the methodology prior to an AC/DC concert in Detroit. StubHub opposed the blocking of ticket transfers, saying that it hindered the choices available to purchasers.[13]
Major League Baseball partnered with StubHub in 2007 to become the league's official online ticket reseller.[21] The agreement between the league and StubHub was renewed in 2012 with modifications, including a minimum price of US$6 for tickets and inclusion of all fees at the time of selecting seats, which StubHub said corrected an "optics issue" caused by fees not being calculated until later in the purchase process. This pricing structure was known as "all-in" pricing, which StubHub made standard across all ticket sales in 2013.[4] Some teams, including the Yankees and Los Angeles Angels, opted out of the renewal.[22] StubHub reversed its all-in pricing in 2015 due to declining sales.[23] It had revenues of approximately US$940 million in 2016.[24]
By May 2011, StubHub had 62 partners across entertainment fields, including with the Fiesta Bowl, Boston Red Sox, and Ultimate Fighting Championship.[25] It partnered with Paciolan in 2011 and in conjunction with that deal had partnered with 23 colleges and universities in the United States.[26] StubHub launched a pilot program in the United Kingdom in December 2011 and began full operations in the country in March 2012.[27] Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and StubHub partnered that year to make StubHub the official ticket reseller for AEG's venues and AXS, AEG's ticketing platform.[28] StubHub was criticized by organizers of 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief in December 2012 for allowing scalpers to resell tickets to the event for significant markups while proceeds did not go to the relief effort. In response, the company donated its fees for the ticket sales, totaling approximately US$500,000, to the Robin Hood Foundation.[29] The Yankees sued StubHub for opening an office within 1,500 feet of Yankee Stadium in March 2013. The parties settled under undisclosed terms the following month.[30] StubHub signed a 3-year sponsorship deal with Jockey Club Racecourses to sell tickets for events at Sandown Park, Epsom Downs, and Kempton Park in 2013.[31] The same year, it purchased the naming rights for the Home Depot Center, the stadium of the LA Galaxy, in a 6-year deal.[22]
Tsakalakis resigned in November 2014. By that time, company revenue had grown to approximately US$2 billion.[11] He was succeeded by Scott Cutler.[32] StubHub added PayPal integration for Android users, personalization algorithms, and the ability present a barcode within the app to gain entry to event venues in 2015.[33] The same year, StubHub sued Ticketmaster and the Golden State Warriors in an antitrust lawsuit that alleged the latter two had conspired to reduce resale of tickets on StubHub's platform by telling ticketholders that reselling through platforms other than Ticketmaster was unsafe. The suit was dismissed in November 2015.[34][35]
The United Kingdom revised rules for secondary ticket sellers in 2015, requiring that sellers include row and seat numbers. StubHub pledged to improve the information provided to customers.[36] The country's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into four secondary ticket marketplaces the following year: StubHub, Viagogo, Seatwave, and GetMeIn. The investigation concerned relationships and data sharing between ticket scalpers and the resale platforms.[37] Documents released with the Paradise Papers showed Julien Lavallee was using StubHub, Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster to run a multimillion dollar ticket resale business.[38] According to a November 9, 2017 article published in The Toronto Star, Lavallée was able to expand his business using "exploitative tactics" that "gam[e] the ticket marketplace and put entertainment beyond the reach of millions of fans who can’t compete with large-scale scalping operations."[39]
Documents in the papers suggested Lavallee and StubHub had a partnership to expand Lavallee's operation to the United Kingdom. Investigations started by the CMA and Trading Standards as a result of the Paradise Papers showed StubHub offered a separate section of its website for high-volume ticket sellers, with tools that made it easier to batch upload tickets and reduced fees for hitting certain sales volumes. They also showed it likely that Lavellee used bots to purchase large volumes of tickets for resale.[40] The CMA raided StubHub's offices in 2017 to acquire information for the investigation and subsequently expanded its scope to include advertising for tickets not yet in stock and high-pressure sales tactics.[41] StubHub made a "formal commitment" to improve information provided to consumers in April 2018.[42] In 2020, the CMA said StubHub was not providing adequate information to customers about venues that may not accept resold tickets, was engaging in high-pressure sales tactics, and was not providing exact locations of seats and addresses of vendors. The company said it was working to resolve "valid concerns" raised by the CMA.[43]
StubHub was the first company to purchase a jersey advertisement patch with one of the big four American sports leagues, signing a 3-year, US$15 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to put a patch on players' jerseys beginning in the 2017-2018 season.[44] StubHub sold US$4.75 billion worth of tickets in 44 countries in 2018.[1] Sukhinder Singh Cassidy was named company president of StubHub that year, replacing Cutler, who became a senior vice president within eBay.[45] StubHub argued in favor of mandating "all-in" pricing in the United States during Congressional testimony in 2020.[46]
Acquisition by Viagogo and Eric Baker
In November 2019, it was announced that Viagogo, the company Baker founded after leaving StubHub, would purchase StubHub for US$4.05 billion.[1] A week prior to the announcement, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced it would be investigating ticket sales and sellers and requested information from Live Nation Entertainment and StubHub on their practices.[1] The CMA opened an investigation into the acquisition. While it was ongoing, the companies were barred from integrating, though the sale could continue.[47] Baker completed the sale in February 2020, approximately 5 weeks before the coronavirus pandemic shut down live events across the world. The pandemic led to the company losing approximately 90 percent of its revenue, according to analyst reports. Due to its timing with the pandemic, Forbes's Noah Kirsch described the transaction as "one of the worst deals in history".[7]
The purchase by Viagogo was finalized in September 2021. Both were placed under the management of a new company, StubHub Holdings.[48] As part of the deal, the CMA required StubHub to sell its operations outside North America to Digital Fuel Capital.[49] Baker became chief executive of the company. It closed its offices in Hong Kong and San Francisco in 2022. Nayaab Islam was named company president that year.[50] In 2024, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against StubHub alleging the company was using drip pricing and a countdown clock to create a false sense of urgency, thereby misleading customers. StubHub said its practices comply with the law, are consistent with the practices of competitors, and that it supported uniform "all-in" pricing regulations.[51]
The company became a public company via an initial public offering in September 2025.[52] The IPO came after previous delays in 2022 and early 2024.[53][54][55]
Operations
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StubHub is an online ticket resale marketplace. The company allows ticket holders to sell their tickets to most events at prices set by the seller. StubHub generates revenue by collecting fees from the buyer and seller of 10 and 15 percent, respectively.[56] Payments are handled via PayPal API. StubHub guarantees delivery to buyers by the time of the event, refunds for late or incorrect tickets, and sends staff to major venues to replace faulty tickets when possible.[57][58] StubHub had revenues of US$1.77 billion in 2024.[59] It is led by CEO Eric Baker and president Nayaab Islam.[50] StubHub was a public company from 2007 to 2020.[48] The company has offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Taiwan, China, Ireland, and Switzerland. As of 2022, StubHub Holdings employed 650 full-time people, with a third of those employees at Viagogo.[50]
Partnerships
StubHub has partnered with multiple companies and sports teams. The company has affiliated with Amazon,[60] Anschutz Entertainment Group,[28] The Athletic,[61] BandPage,[20] Spotify,[62] and Uber.[63] In sports, it has entered partnerships with individual professional teams including the Seattle Mariners,[4] LA Galaxy,[22] and Everton F.C.,[64] as well as with sports leagues including Major League Baseball.[21] As of 2013, it had partnerships with 35 college sports teams, including the universities of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.[65]
