Photo Credit: Matt Seymour
A new SEC filing reveals that StubHub’s “marketplace for fans” is run by a CEO who also owns and manages a fund that scalps tickets on the platform.
An investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has found that StubHub’s claims of being a “marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets” are little more than a farce: the online ticket reseller is run by a mass scalper who actively promotes other mass scalpers using the platform.
StubHub, the largest player in the ticket resale industry, is also the largest platform where professional scalpers buy up billions of dollars worth of tickets to resell for a profit.
“StubHub’s business model—which is legal—moved $9.2 billion (USD) in tickets in 2025 and has been under intense scrutiny as the company cancelled thousands of World Cup orders, prompting investigations by Consumer Protection BC and the Texas attorney general, as well as two proposed class-action lawsuits in the U.S.,” the CBC reports.
The CBC was told by StubHub that the company “does not own, possess, or sell tickets. We are a technology platform that connects independent buyers and sellers,” comparing itself to eBay.
But StubHub CEO Eric Baker disclosed in recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that he not only runs the platform, but is also part owner and managing director of Andro Capital, a fund that sells “millions of dollars” worth of tickets on StubHub. That fact is seemingly obfuscated—and contradicted—by StubHub marketing itself as a “marketplace for fans.”
Moreover, the SEC filings show StubHub inked a deal with an affiliate of Baker’s fund to bankroll other mass scalpers, helping them buy and post large quantities of tickets for resale on the platform.
“It’s just very deceiving. StubHub [has] told the public they’re a marketplace; they want to be treated as a marketplace,” said Randy Nichols, a New York-based band manager and ticketing industry researcher on behalf of the National Independent Talent Organization. “What they leave out is that their CEO is a large ticket seller.”
Approximately 70-80% of all tickets on global resale platforms are controlled by mass scalpers, according to a UK investigation into StubHub in 2021. While StubHub UK is a distinctly separate entity from its American counterpart, research found that 72% of all tickets for arena events listed on StubHub UK last month came from just three bulk sellers.
“It’s time for a root-and-branch investigation into the entire ‘secondary ticketing’ sector,” said Adam Webb, a campaign manager at the Fan Fair Alliance (FFA). “Such unlawful and anti-consumer practices are not isolated to StubHub International. They are endemic across multiple ticket resale websites.”
