StubHub stocks tumble as lawsuits pile up over unissued FIFA World Cup tickets
StubHub made hundreds of millions of dollars last quarter, but it is having to give a lot of that money back after reselling FIFA World Cup tickets that had yet to be issued.
StubHub, a popular ticket resale platform, experienced a sharp decline in stock value as a wave of lawsuits targeted the company over unissued FIFA World Cup tickets. Despite generating hundreds of millions in revenue during the previous quarter, StubHub is bearing the brunt of legal action and reporting a net loss. This situation has left soccer enthusiasts who purchased tickets on the platform feeling frustrated and deceived.
Rodrigue Alexandre, a Haitian-American fan, recounted his distress when he and his family arrived at the Philadelphia stadium to watch Haiti play, only to discover they could not gain entry due to the seats they bought on StubHub not being theirs. StubHub had permitted third-party sellers to list tickets prematurely, before FIFA had officially issued them.
Eric Baker, CEO of StubHub, blamed FIFA's ticketing infrastructure for the issue, stating that the process was complicated and poorly managed. However, Vijay Setlur, a professor at York University, argued that FIFA itself had not done enough to provide a smooth ticketing process. Bradford Clements, a California-based lawyer representing affected StubHub customers, claims he has 275 cases against the company and has recovered $2.2 million for his clients so far.
The problem, according to Clements, stems from StubHub allowing fans to buy tickets before FIFA even began issuing them, leaving fans with a sense of betrayal as many tickets were mere fantasies.
Written by urgent.news from Global News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
