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Multiple parties interested in buying StubHub off eBay, according to reports
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 19 July 2019
eBay is moving forward with plans to sell its secondary ticketing platform StubHub, multiple sources have told CNBC. Talks that could result in a sale of the ticket resale company are still at an early stage, the sources added, but there are “multiple parties” interested.
In the early 2000s, online ticket touting first started to gain momentum on the main eBay site. A number of start-ups then sprang up specifically skewed towards ticket resale. One of those was StubHub, which eBay then acquired in 2007.
Although the backlash to online touting has gained new momentum in recent years, and despite an increasing number of countries seeking to regulate ticket resale, secondary ticketing is still a lucrative business, especially in the US.
That said, as regulations increase in multiple markets, and with many primary ticket sellers now offering face-value resale services, on a global basis ticket resale platforms are likely to face new challenges in the years ahead.
eBay hasn’t specifically commented on possible buyers for StubHub, but it did announce a strategic review of its portfolio earlier this year. And, according to CNBC, earlier this week, the company’s CEO Devin Wenig confirmed in an earnings call that “we’re … actively reviewing the role and value of StubHub … in our portfolio”, with the focus on “determining the best path forward to create shareholder value”.
