StubHub to pay $10M to settle FTC allegations of “fraudulent” ticket prices

StubHub has agreed to pay $10 million to address Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that the ticket market failed to disclose the full cost of tickets.

The federal agency said in a decision issued Thursday that StubHub violated the FTC and the Act on Unfair or Deceptive Payments by “deceptively” advertising ticket prices on its website without clearly explaining what the price will be, including all legal fees.

In May 2025, the FTC began want to buy tickets make sure prices are visible at all ticketing stages. The union’s complaint alleges that after the law went into effect, StubHub advertised its ticket prices without disclosing the full price.

“Given StubHub’s experience and public support for this rule, I was disappointed to learn that it was one of the first violators of this rule,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. words. “(…) StubHub chose to move slowly in complying with the law in part because the NFL was about to release its regular policy. The complaint indicates that the NFL policy is a ’99th percentile traffic event’ for StubHub and that management decided that the competitive advantage of misleading consumers outweighed the risk of being caught.”

The FTC sent a warning letter to StubHub on May 14, 2025, and the company corrected the issue the next day.

The $10 million secured by the FTC will cover StubHub’s three days of non-compliance with the law and will be used to return “unearned” profits to consumers through refunds paid to StubHub, Ferguson wrote.

“We’ve been supporting all pricing because it makes the most sense for fans,” a StubHub spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “This settlement affects a small number of consumers, starting with just three days in May 2025, when some posts on our website may have shown ticket prices without fees. While we strongly disagree with the FTC’s views on this matter, we are addressing their concerns by refunding a portion of those consumers’ money.”

The lawsuit against StubHub is the FTC’s latest mark on ticket markets. Last September, organization sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, for engaging in illegal ticketing schemes and deceiving consumers about ticket prices and limits. The companies have asked a federal judge to throw out a case.

Last August, the FTC sued a ticket broker from Maryland for using illegal means to bypass ticketing limits for popular events, such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and resell those tickets at inflated prices.