StubHub's 'marketplace for fans' is run by a mass scalper, SEC filings reveal

> StubHub and its CEO, Eric Baker, have been hit with a proposed $5-million class-action lawsuit

This should be much higher. A class action lawsuit shouldn’t be worth less than what these people can make scalping a single Taylor Swift concert.

This just opens an opportunity for them to settle, admit no wrongdoing and then include a clause in the settlement that prevents further lawsuits.

For StubHub to have insider dealing isn't so surprising, but I am shocked at how brazenly and openly it's occurring. Nothing covert or concealed, just the CEO of a marketplace openly admitting that they run a hedge fund that resells scalped goods on that marketplace while keeping other scalpers off the platform.

I don’t really understand the outrage over scalpers. Isn’t this just normal market behavior? Is a retailer that buys things and sells them with a markup a scalper?

People seem to be willing to pay crazy prices for events.

Scummy behavior, but customers are also tacitly endorsing high prices when they pay $1500 for a Taylor Swift (or name your artist) ticket.

no, it gets more layers.. a quick search says "Through its affiliate Colloquy Capital, StubHub helps bankroll other mass ticket scalpers by providing short-term financing based on expected future sales, further inflating the volume of professional resellers on the platform." (I have no direct knowledge of these participants)

welcome to america 2026. where it's not only encouraged but expected that you're lying, cheating, and stealing your way to the top.

I don’t really understand the outrage over scalpers. Isn’t this just normal market behavior? Is a retailer that buys things and sells them with a markup a scalper?

People seem to be willing to pay crazy prices for events.

>Is a retailer that buys things and sells them with a markup a scalper?

If you bought all of the food then offered the food at 10x the prices, we'd be outraged with you, yes.

Stakes are lower because it's a luxury good, not food, but it's the same idea.

The ultimate customers would certainly pay more than the face price which is what the scalpers pay, yet the scalpers get all the tickets. This is abnormal market behaviour.

Yes it's rational market behavior. But it bothers people for such a blatantly worthless middleman to capture all consumer surplus for themselves while providing zero value.

The outrage is over the apparent collusion between a platform that argues it only facilitates a fan-to-fan marketplace, and a hedge fund run by the platform's CEO that sells a massive volume of resale tickets. This is definitely not on the spirit of competition regardless of it's illegal or not

Scummy behavior, but customers are also tacitly endorsing high prices when they pay $1500 for a Taylor Swift (or name your artist) ticket.

You're not entirely wrong, but the root issue is artists not charging the market clearing price for tickets. If you're selling something worth $1000 for $200, you shouldn't be surprised arbitrageurs pop up to take advantage.

> StubHub and its CEO, Eric Baker, have been hit with a proposed $5-million class-action lawsuit

This should be much higher. A class action lawsuit shouldn’t be worth less than what these people can make scalping a single Taylor Swift concert.

This just opens an opportunity for them to settle, admit no wrongdoing and then include a clause in the settlement that prevents further lawsuits.

IANAL, but the exact language from the complaint was:

>WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, individually and on behalf of the Class, respectfully requests that this Court:

>...

>Award compensatory, statutory, and/or restitutionary damages, as applicable, in an amount to be determined at trial and that the aggregate amount in controversy across the whole class exceeds $5,000,000;

it doesn't say that the damages are capped at 5M, only that they're asking for at least 5M.

>Is a retailer that buys things and sells them with a markup a scalper?

If you bought all of the food then offered the food at 10x the prices, we'd be outraged with you, yes.

Stakes are lower because it's a luxury good, not food, but it's the same idea.

Yes it's rational market behavior. But it bothers people for such a blatantly worthless middleman to capture all consumer surplus for themselves while providing zero value.

The ultimate customers would certainly pay more than the face price which is what the scalpers pay, yet the scalpers get all the tickets. This is abnormal market behaviour.

IANAL, but the exact language from the complaint was:

>WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, individually and on behalf of the Class, respectfully requests that this Court:

>...

it doesn't say that the damages are capped at 5M, only that they're asking for at least 5M.

> You're not entirely wrong, but the root issue is artists not charging the market clearing price for tickets.

Because there is value for the artist in maintaining the perception of accessibility.

This argument has been made a lot on this site, mainly by people who don’t understand live music.

welcome to america 2026. where it's not only encouraged but expected that you're lying, cheating, and stealing your way to the top.

2026? As if stubhub/ticketmaster only materialized after trump2?

> You're not entirely wrong, but the root issue is artists not charging the market clearing price for tickets.

Because there is value for the artist in maintaining the perception of accessibility.

This argument has been made a lot on this site, mainly by people who don’t understand live music.

World

StubHub and its CEO, Eric Baker, have been hit with a proposed $5-million class-action lawsuit in the United States over the company's ties to large-scale scalpers — connections reported by CBC News last week.

Buyer of soccer, Kiss concert tickets claims he was misled by StubHub

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StubHub CEO Eric Baker poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange before his company's IPO, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

StubHub CEO Eric Baker poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange before his company's IPO, in September 2025. (Richard Drew/The Associated Press)

The suit, filed Monday by New York ticket buyer Louis Sanquini, alleges deceptive practices and fraudulent misrepresentation over StubHub's promoting itself as a "marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets."

The online ticket resale giant has faced a storm of customer complaints after cancelling thousands of World Cup tickets. The company has repeatedly said it is simply a technology platform that does not buy, sell or possess tickets.

However, CBC reported last week that Baker disclosed in recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he runs Andro Capital, a hedge fund that engages in large-scale resale of millions of dollars' worth of sports and concert tickets on the StubHub resale platform.

[

CBC Investigates

StubHub's 'marketplace for fans' is run by a mass scalper, SEC filings reveal

](https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/stubhub-marketplace-mass-scalper-sec-filings-9.7265230)

Sanquini filed the proposed class action in the Southern District of New York, arguing consumers were kept in the dark and that he believed StubHub was a "neutral" marketplace.

Lead counsel Kevin Steinberg told CBC News in an emailed statement that "consumers deserve honesty and transparency."

WATCH | CBC found StubHub CEO Eric Baker also runs a fund selling millions in tickets:

StubHub CEO participates in mass scalping, SEC filings reveal

July 10|

Duration 7:20

A CBC investigation found that the CEO of online ticket reseller StubHub owns and manages a hedge fund that scalps millions of dollars of its own tickets.

"While what StubHub is alleged to have engaged in and perpetrated upon millions of patrons is unfathomable, this case is about transparency and consumer trust. If companies make representations to the public, consumers are entitled to expect that those representations are complete and accurate," he said.

The claim reads: "Defendants' failure to disclose this conflict of interest, while affirmatively marketing StubHub as a fan-to-fan marketplace, deceived Plaintiff and the Class and caused them to pay prices, and accept terms, they would not have accepted had the truth been known."

Sanquini argues that had he known StubHub's CEO held a financial interest and that the company was helping finance professional resellers, he would never have used the resale site to buy tickets to see rock band Kiss in 2023 or to attend a New York Red Bulls-New York City FC Major League Soccer match in 2024.

A StubHub spokesperson wrote to CBC in an email late Monday: "Thank you for reaching out but we aren't going to comment on a legal matter."

None of the allegations has been tested in court.

Close up of computer screen showing ticket prices for seats at a soccer game.

A CBC News investigation has found evidence that StubHub advertised and allowed speculative World Cup ticket listings months before FIFA officially released them, leaving some fans without a seat on game day. (CBC)

World Cup cancellations draw scrutiny

StubHub has faced increased scrutiny and calls for an outside investigation after cancelling thousands of World Cup ticket orders despite its "FanProtect Guarantee."

Many disappointed customers say that although they were promised refunds or replacement tickets, they were shut out of World Cup matches at the last moment and left out of pocket for travel and hotel expenses, missing what some described as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity.

The situation has prompted numerous complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Canada's Competition Bureau, and has sparked formal investigations by Consumer Protection B.C. and the Texas Attorney General's office.

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StubHub's 'marketplace for fans' is run by a mass scalper, SEC filings reveal

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Buyer of soccer, Kiss concert tickets claims he was misled by StubHub

World Cup cancellations draw scrutiny