StubHub, the online ticket marketplace, has gone through some significant ownership changes over the last few years. Most recently in 2020, StubHub was acquired by viagogo, a Swiss ticket reseller, from eBay for $4.05 billion.
StubHub’s Origins and Early Ownership
StubHub was founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr, both former Stanford Business School students. The pair had the idea to create an online marketplace where fans could buy and sell tickets to sporting events, concerts, theater shows, and other live entertainment events.
Initially, Baker and Fluhr self-funded StubHub. In 2004, however, they were able to secure $3.5 million in funding from private investors to help grow the business. Some of StubHub’s early investors included The Peacock Equity Fund, Pinnacle Ventures, and meetings.com founder Jeffrey Bezos.
Under Baker and Fluhr’s leadership, StubHub experienced rapid growth in its first few years of operation. By 2006, StubHub had gained enough traction that eBay took notice and acquired the company for $310 million. This gave eBay full ownership of StubHub.
StubHub as Part of eBay
eBay provided significant resources and scale that allowed StubHub to expand substantially over the next decade. During the eBay years, StubHub:
- Grew its inventory to offer tickets for more than 10 million live events per year
- Expanded internationally into more than 40 countries
- Opened additional offices in cities like Los Angeles and London to service local markets
- Developed mobile apps to make ticket buying and selling easier
- Partnered with major sports leagues, teams, and venues to become an authorized reseller
eBay also invested heavily in StubHub’s technology infrastructure and online security features during this period. StubHub became one of eBay’s major subsidiaries, generating significant revenue for the ecommerce company.
However, in 2019 eBay announced its intention to offload StubHub as part of a broader strategic review under new CEO Jamie Iannone. eBay planned to increase focus on its core online marketplace and reduce its portfolio of standalone businesses.
Acquisition by viagogo
In November 2019, eBay announced it had agreed to sell StubHub to European ticket marketplace viagogo for $4.05 billion. The deal closed in February 2020, transferring StubHub’s ownership to viagogo.
viagogo was founded in 2006 by Eric Baker, the same entrepreneur who co-founded StubHub. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, viagogo had grown to become one of the largest secondary ticket marketplaces in Europe and Asia. However, it had less of a presence in North America compared to StubHub.
Acquiring StubHub provided viagogo with an opportunity to significantly expand its footprint globally. It also reunited StubHub with its original co-founder. Following the acquisition, StubHub continues to operate as a separate brand and website from viagogo.
Reasons for the viagogo Acquisition
There were several factors that made the viagogo acquisition strategically appealing for both eBay and viagogo:
- Provided viagogo with an established brand and marketplace to enter the North American and Latin American markets, where StubHub had high existing brand awareness and buyer/seller penetration.
- Gave viagogo valuable online ticket seller relationships and multi-year official partnerships that StubHub had secured with major sports leagues, teams, and entertainment venues.
- Allowed eBay to streamline its business and receive a strong $4+ billion return by divesting StubHub.
- Combined StubHub and viagogo’s technical and marketing resources to grow the brands globally as one entity.
The similar peer-to-peer ticket exchange models of StubHub and viagogo also made integration of the two companies more straightforward than other acquisition targets may have been.
Oversight Under viagogo Ownership
Following the acquisition, StubHub continued normal business operations as integration activities began. StubHub’s headquarters remained in San Francisco, CA.
Eric Baker took on the new role of StubHub Chairman, providing overall guidance and strategy for the brand he co-founded. Sukhinder Singh Cassidy was appointed StubHub President, responsible for leading the marketplace and operations. Other existing StubHub executives stayed in place to manage departments like Finance, Marketing, and Product.
On the viagogo side, viagogo co-founder and CEO Eric Baker is responsible for overseeing the StubHub acquisition. Baker and other corporate viagogo executives in Geneva provide oversight and coordination across shared group functions.
Initially, StubHub and viagogo continued to operate as mostly separate brands and sites. However, in late 2020, StubHub’s systems were migrated over to viagogo’s proprietary platform. This provided a unified technical backend for inventory and order management.
StubHub and viagogo maintain separate consumer-facing experiences, though the businesses collaborate on strategic initiatives where beneficial. For example, leveraging shared data and insights to jointly improve anti-fraud measures.
Integration Progress and Plans
In the three years since the acquisition, progress has been made on integration efforts between StubHub and viagogo. Some key milestones include:
- Migrating StubHub’s inventory systems to viagogo’s proprietary platform.
- Aligning seller verification and anti-fraud detection capabilities.
- Cross-training staff in some corporate functions like finance, accounting, HR, legal, etc.
- Leveraging viagogo’s European supplier relationships for event partnerships in North America/Latin America.
- Combining marketing and analytics resources for more impactful campaigns and buyer research.
For 2023 and beyond, further integration plans consist of:
- Continued sharing of data science and technical resources to improve the buyer experience.
- Exploring opportunities to cross-sell viagogo’s inventory in Europe/Asia on StubHub to expand global reach.
- Driving cost synergies by evaluating integrated corporate functions where appropriate.
- Developing joint mobile app and web features that users would benefit from on both sites.
However, StubHub and viagogo will likely maintain separate consumer brands and sites for the foreseeable future. This preserves StubHub’s strong brand equity in the U.S. market. Over time, the businesses aim to deepen interoperability and extract learnings from each other.
StubHub’s Performance Under viagogo
In the first few months following the acquisition, StubHub’s business performed mostly on par with projections. Gross transaction value remained strong entering 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted live events and ticket sales in early 2020. This led to a difficult 2020 for StubHub and the industry as a whole.
With mass event cancelations and venue closures, StubHub’s transaction volume declined substantially year-over-year. This was an unpredictable external shock. StubHub focused on adjusting policies to provide refunds and flexibility for buyers and sellers impacted.
As events have resumed in 2021 and 2022, demand has rebounded. Under viagogo ownership, StubHub remains one of the largest primary and secondary online ticket marketplaces:
- Over 12 million tickets were sold across StubHub in 2022.
- Gross transaction value has steadily improved, nearing 2019 levels.
- The site retains strong buyer and seller satisfaction levels of approximately 90%.
- Strategic partnerships continue with major league sports, teams, and entertainment attractions.
While performance metrics have not yet exceeded pre-acquisition levels, the trajectory is positive. There are opportunities to increase sales volume by leveraging viagogo’s technology and supplier network.
StubHub Financial Performance
Year | Annual Transaction Value | Year-Over-Year Change |
---|---|---|
2018 (Pre-Acquisition) | $5.24 billion | +13% |
2019 (Partial viagogo) | $5.06 billion | -3% |
2020 (COVID-19 Impact) | $1.91 billion | -62% |
2021 | $3.55 billion | +86% |
2022 | $4.72 billion | +33% |
The above table summarizes StubHub’s annual gross transaction value and growth rate during recent years encompassing the viagogo acquisition. 2020 saw significant declines due to COVID-19, but transaction volumes have rebounded healthily since then.
Conclusion
StubHub has undergone notable ownership changes since its founding in 2000. After many years as part of eBay, StubHub was divested in 2020 and acquired by European ticketing firm viagogo for $4.05 billion.
Reuniting StubHub with original co-founder Eric Baker through the viagogo deal provided an opportunity to integrate StubHub’s strong presence in North America with viagogo’s infrastructure and supplier network abroad. While integration efforts are still ongoing, StubHub remains one of the premier online ticket marketplaces under viagogo’s ownership.
Despite temporary COVID-19 impacts, StubHub’s transaction volumes and gross sales have been steadily recovering. There are still synergies to be gained from further technology and operational alignment between StubHub and viagogo. But the acquisition has granted StubHub with the resources and scale of a larger corporate parent to support ongoing innovation and global expansion.