Ticket Marketplace to Go Public

StubHub, which says its online marketplace handled the resale of more than 40 million tickets last year, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. The filing says the company wants to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange for trading under the ticker symbol "STUB," per the Hollywood Reporter. StubHub, which did not say how many shares it will sell, considered an IPO last year but dropped the idea because of market conditions, per CNBC. The breakdown:

• The model: StubHub users resell tickets for concerts, games, and other live events through the platform, with the company collecting its revenue most directly through fees on purchases and sales. The fees are based on the price of the ticket. The business, which launched in 2000, is dependent on demand. Taylor Swift's Eras tour alone increased StubHub's gross merchandise by 14% for 2023, for instance, according to the filing. Sales remain high for the biggest stars' concerts, but some in the industry expect demand to weaken as the economy tightens.

• The issues: Concertgoers' anger at Ticketmaster over high prices, fees and scalpers has included StubHub and other secondary sellers. StubHub faces a lawsuit filed by the Washington, DC, attorney general concerning allegations of predatory pricing tactics.
• The financials: The filing lists a $2.8 million net loss last year on $1.77 billion in revenue, after a profit topping $405 million on $1.37 billion in revenue the year before. StubHub was bought in 2007 by eBay for $310 million, then was resold in 2020 to co-founder Eric Baker through his company Viagogo for $4 billion.

• The competition: Rivals include SeatGeek, which weighed an IPO last year, Vivid Seats, and Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster. Vivid Sears went public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2021, per CNBC.
• The outlook: The filing maintains that "the irreplaceable role that collective experiences play in fostering human connection" will continue to grow and drive StubHub's business. The IPO could provide an indication of investors' sentiments about the live events industry, per Axios.

(More StubHub stories.)