Industry News

Mobile ticketing demand led to NFL deal – StubHub

NFL fans’ demands for greater choice and mobile ticketing were at the core of the league’s deal with StubHub, according to the ticketing operator itself.

The Ticketing Business reported yesterday that eBay-owned StubHub has become an NFL Authorised Ticket Resale Marketplace following an overhaul of the North American league’s ticketing arrangements.

In a multi-year agreement that will begin in the 2018-19 season, StubHub becomes the first marketplace to be permitted to integrate directly into the primary ticketing systems of the 32 NFL clubs.

StubHub’s Perkins Miller, general manager North America, told Billboard that the new NFL ticketing regime, which sees Ticketmaster open its API to allow the sale and validation of tickets on third-party marketplaces, will offer greater choice to fans.

“As the league was evaluating how they were going to go to ticketing 2.0 for their fan, they looked at their core primary partner Ticketmaster and said, ‘What more do we need to do to gauge a broader marketplace?’” said Miller. “StubHub is by far the largest marketplace in the NFL.

“If you look at what works for the fan today, they want a mobile ticket. And what this does for the league is it puts it on the path of all 32 teams to be mobile-enabled in the very near future.

“It means that you’ll be able to come to StubHub and every NFL ticket that you have will be a mobile ticket.”

The new deal boosts StubHub’s position as it becomes an official partner of the NFL, while the league will benefit from a new revenue stream. Ticketmaster will also profit as it gains access to consumer data once held tightly by its rival.

Patrick Ryan, of ticket pricing and distribution company Eventellect, told Billboard: “StubHub wins because they will now be able to gain access to more tickets for its marketplace.

“Ticketmaster and StubHub have made significant investments servicing and marketing to fans and this feels like a logical way for them to each leverage their strengths in this era when fans don’t really distinguish between primary and secondary markets.”