50 Facts About Stubhub

StubHub: A Ticketing Giant

StubHub has been a major player in the ticketing industry for over two decades. Founded by two Stanford Business School students, it has grown into a global marketplace for live event tickets. Let's dive into some fascinating facts about StubHub.

1. Founding: StubHub was founded in March 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr as a class project.
2. Initial Deal: One of its first major sports deals was with the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
3. Acquisition Talks: In 2002, eBay was in talks to acquire StubHub for $20 million, but the deal fell apart over price disagreements.
4. Business Model: StubHub acts as a middleman between buyers and sellers, earning revenue from commissions on ticket sales.
5. Revenue Growth: By 2005, the company generated $50 million in revenue and was cash flow positive, with over $200 million in sales.

Legal and Market Challenges

StubHub has faced its share of legal and market challenges, especially concerning ticket resale laws and disputes with sports teams.

6. Disputes Over Resale: In 2006, StubHub was involved in disputes over the resale of season sports tickets with the New England Patriots and New York Yankees.
7. Lobbying Efforts: StubHub lobbied state legislatures to repeal or modify stricter anti-scalping laws, leading to 35 states having no restrictions on ticket resale by 2006.
8. Inc. 500 List: In 2006, Inc. ranked StubHub as the eighth fastest-growing private company in America on its annual "Inc. 500" list.

Global Reach and Customer Service

StubHub's global operations and customer service efforts have made it a trusted platform for millions of users worldwide.

9. Global Operations: StubHub services customers in 195 countries, offering tickets in 33 languages and 49 available currencies.
10. Ticket Availability: The platform offers more than 300 million tickets to events annually, ranging from sports to music, comedy, dance, festivals, and theater.
11. FanProtect Guarantee: Every order on StubHub is backed by the FanProtect guarantee, ensuring a safe and convenient ticket-buying experience.
12. Customer Service: StubHub provides global customer service support to ensure a smooth transaction process.

Pricing Models and Customer Satisfaction

StubHub has experimented with various pricing models to enhance customer satisfaction and transparency.

13. All-In Pricing Model: In 2013, StubHub began testing an all-in pricing model for MLB tickets, eliminating surprise checkout fees.
14. Customer Satisfaction: The all-in pricing model drove a 10-point increase in customer satisfaction, although it initially led to a decline in sales for some ticket brokers.
15. Fee Reduction: To win back customers, StubHub reduced its buyers' fees to as low as 2% from 10% of the base ticket price and lowered sellers' fees significantly.

Technological Infrastructure

StubHub's complex technological infrastructure supports its massive operations and ensures a seamless user experience.

16. Complex Architecture: StubHub's architecture handles 800K complex pages per hour and sells 5 million tickets annually. It also manages 2 million API calls per hour.
17. Bursty Traffic: Traffic on StubHub peaks around unpredictable game outcomes, events, schedules, and seasons, requiring sophisticated handling.
18. Ad Server Component: StubHub has an ad server component that serves ads to sites like ESPN, adding another layer of complexity.
19. Interactive UI: The platform features a rich interactive UI, making it easier for users to navigate and find tickets.
20. Real-Time Market Component: StubHub's real-time ticket market component ensures dynamic interactions between buyers and sellers.

Integration and Advanced Systems

StubHub integrates various legacy and modern systems to maintain its operations and support complex business processes.

21. Legacy Systems Integration: Despite its modern architecture, StubHub still deals with legacy systems built when getting business-building features out the door was the priority.
22. Point-of-Sale System Integration: StubHub uses a two-phase commit to reserve tickets on external systems, mark them as claimed in StubHub, and commit the purchase on the external system.
23. Advanced Queuing Systems: The platform uses advanced queuing systems from Oracle and IBM workflow builders like TeamWorks to manage complex business processes efficiently.
24. Java and Cold Fusion: StubHub's platform is built using Java and Cold Fusion, with additional tools like Lucene/Solr for search functionality and Memcache for caching.
25. Infiniband Network: The platform uses Infiniband for fast network connections to SAN (Storage Area Network), ensuring high-speed data transfer.

Search and Logging Systems

StubHub employs advanced search and logging systems to enhance user experience and maintain transaction records.

26. XSL and Advanced Queuing: The platform employs XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language) and advanced queuing from Oracle to manage complex transactions efficiently.
27. Splunk and Apache HttpClient: For logging and HTTP client functionality, StubHub uses Splunk and Apache HttpClient respectively.
28. Log4j: The platform utilizes Log4j for logging messages in a specific format, ensuring that all transactional data is accurately recorded.
29. Tapestry: For building web applications, StubHub uses Tapestry, which helps in creating complex UI components efficiently.

Ticket Dynamics and Market Forces

The ticket market is dynamic, with constant updates in prices and quantities driven by market forces.

30. Ticket Distribution: Tickets are not commodities; buyers want specific tickets, not just any seat. This specificity requires constant updates in prices and quantities by sellers in response to market forces.
31. Active Listings: There are 2 million active listings/tickets on the platform at any given time, with tickets revolving around 45K events annually.
32. Major Events: The Major League Baseball postseason and the Super Bowl are the most active periods for ticket sales on StubHub.
33. Sales Growth: Sales on StubHub are growing at 20% per year, with a significant increase in traffic during peak event periods.
34. Complex Pages Served: The platform serves 600K to 800K complex pages per hour, with a burst to a million pages during peak seasons like the postseason.

Engineering and Customer Service

StubHub's engineering team and customer service efforts are crucial to its operations and user satisfaction.

35. API Calls: There are 2 million API calls from affiliates per hour, indicating the high volume of transactions and interactions on the platform.
36. Engineering Team: The engineering team consists of 24-36 engineers, with a significant portion dedicated to customer service and back-office business operations support.
37. Customer Service: The support call-to-transaction ratio has improved significantly, with a focus on providing excellent customer service to ensure a smooth transaction process.

Impact of Major Events and Artists

Major events and popular artists have a significant impact on ticket sales and demand on StubHub.

38. Ticket Brokers: Some ticket brokers have reported a decline in sales ranging from 15% to 50% since the all-in pricing model was implemented, although this has been mitigated by fee reductions.
39. Taylor Swift’s Impact: Taylor Swift’s tours have significantly impacted ticket sales on StubHub. Her "Eras Tour" broke sales records, and her first appearance in Kansas City spurred demand for Chiefs home games, leading to the highest single-day ticket sales on StubHub since the season started.
40. Women in Music: Female artists drive 73% of overall sales for the top 10 global touring artists, with Taylor Swift leading the charge in StubHub history.
41. Women’s Sports: Women’s sports have seen significant growth on StubHub, with the WNBA Finals and Women’s Final Four commanding higher prices than their male counterparts. Sales for women’s soccer doubled over 2022.

Global Trends and Future Outlook

StubHub's global reach and the impact of international events and trends shape its future outlook.

42. Vegas as a Hub: Las Vegas has redefined the live event experience, with venues like The Sphere drawing visitors from 91 countries since its opening. Adele’s multi-month residency and F1 spectacle on the strip have contributed to this trend.
43. Messi’s Impact: Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami lifted the MLS season, with sales increasing by 160%. Sales from buyers outside the U.S. rose by 220%, making Inter Miami the most in-demand team in the league.
44. Top Traveling Countries: The top traveling countries for live events on StubHub are the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia, ranked by the greatest number of tickets purchased.
45. Top Cities: The top cities for live event ticket purchases on StubHub are Los Angeles, New York City, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Nashville, Kansas City, Miami, and Boston.
46. Global Reach: StubHub services customers in 195 countries and offers tickets in 33 languages and 49 available currencies, making it a truly global platform.
47. Event Types: The platform offers tickets to a wide range of events including sports, concerts, theater, comedy, dance, festivals, and more.
48. Ticket Fees Transparency: StubHub has moved towards all-in ticket pricing to provide transparency to consumers, eliminating surprise checkout fees and driving customer satisfaction.
49. Customer Feedback: Consumer research shows that fans hate seeing their final ticket price increased with additional fees and service charges, making all-in pricing a welcome change.
50. Future Outlook: Looking ahead, StubHub expects continued demand for tickets sold on its platform, with U.S. buyers traveling abroad for the "Eras Tour" and women’s sports leagues expanding. College football will also see new developments, with Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Olivia Rodrigo among the top-selling artists for 2024.

StubHub's Impact on Live Events

StubHub has revolutionized how people buy and sell tickets for live events. Founded in 2000 by Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr, it quickly became a go-to platform for sports, concerts, and theater tickets. With operations in 195 countries and offering tickets in 33 languages, StubHub's reach is truly global. The FanProtect guarantee ensures a safe buying experience, while the all-in pricing model eliminates surprise fees, boosting customer satisfaction. Major events like the MLB postseason and the Super Bowl see peak activity on the platform. Innovations like real-time market components and advanced queuing systems make transactions seamless. From Taylor Swift's record-breaking tours to Lionel Messi's impact on MLS, StubHub continues to shape the live event landscape. As demand grows, especially for women's sports and international events, StubHub remains a key player in the ticketing industry.