StubHub Postpones IPO as Secondary Ticketing Regulations Come Back into Focus

A company that sells secondary tickets StubHub has pushed back its planned public offering to the fall, according to sources. The delay comes as an artist- and fan-led campaign against ticket resale gains steam even in the U.S.

StubHub, which operates the StubHub platform in the United States and Viagogo elsewhere, has been working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs for two years on a planned IPO. The company previously filed the documents in secret with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, and there was speculation they would be disclosed late last week.

However, Bloomberg sources told The IPO has been pushed back to after Labor Day, on September 2, due to “stagnant market conditions.”

The current StubHub business was formed through the merger of StubHub US and Viagogo in 2020. As part of the merger, StubHub’s international division, which operates StubHub ticket resale sites outside of North America, was spun off as a separate company.

StubHub executives are targeting a valuation of at least $16.5 billion at the public offering, which seems ambitious, although the company is clearly looking to capitalize on the live music boom at the high end of the market. It will also hope that the investment community is not too concerned about the ongoing campaigns to tighten ticketing regulations.

In the UK, after years of campaigning by the music industry and consumer rights groups, the new Labour government has committed to introducing a 10% price cap on resale tickets. This commitment was even included in the Labour Party’s election manifesto, albeit in somewhat less specific terms (committing to “new consumer protections for ticket resale”).

However, StubHub’s primary market is the US, where ticket resale is more widely accepted as a routine part of the live entertainment industry and where there is less regulation.

However, anti-solicitation activists in the music community are becoming increasingly active in the US as well, especially those involved in Fix Tix campaign. They encouraged artists and fans to write to lawmakers in Washington last week, asking them to introduce more regulations on ticket resale. And campaigners say they have sent 65,000 letters and messages.

Stephen Parker, Executive Director National Association of Independent Placeswhich led the campaign, said the large number of letters sent shows that “consumers, fans and artists who make up this country’s live events industry will not stand by and allow predatory resellers to control our ticketing process.”

“This week’s actions send a clear message to Congress that it is time for comprehensive reform,” he added. “This country needs legislation that will ban counterfeit tickets, end price gouging and outlaw deceptive marketing tactics.”

American activists aren’t calling for anything as severe as a price cap yet. And StubHub is likely to tell the investment community that new rules on transparency and marketing practices won’t be too damaging to its business, even though both StubHub and Viagogo have fought hard to avoid such rules in other countries in the past.

However, if Labour does indeed introduce a price cap in the UK in the coming months, and this is widely reported in the global financial press, it could raise some concerns among more cautious investors who – if the US ultimately follows the UK’s lead – could have concerns about StubHub’s long-term prospects.