Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC settles ticket pricing case against StubHub for $10 million, (Apr 10, 2026)

By Christopher M. Longo, J.D.

The FTC alleged that StubHub deceptively advertised ticket prices for events by displaying partial prices that excluded mandatory fees, and failed to disclose the total price consumers were required to pay.

The FTC announced that it has reached a $10 million settlement with StubHub Holdings, Inc. to resolve allegations that the ticket resale platform “deceptively advertised ticket prices” in violation of the FTC Act and the agency’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees. The FTC alleged that StubHub failed to clearly and conspicuously “disclose the total price every place price is displayed,” and “fail[ed] to disclose the total price when fees and charges are itemized,” in violation of the FTC Act and the Fees Rule. The agency had previously warned StubHub that price displays on its website appeared to “misrepresent[] the price of tickets in violation of the Fees Rule” and failed to display “mandatory fees and charges,” and encouraged the company to comply with the Fees Rule (FTC v. StubHub Holdings, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-02924 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 9, 2026)).

The May 14, 2025, letter referenced, and coincided with, the release of the National Football League 2025 season schedule, and the FTC noted in the letter that there would be a “high volume of traffic and sales expected across ticketing platforms” with the release of the schedule, adding that “each failure to comply with the Fees Rule is a separate violation that may be subject to civil penalties.” The FTC asked StubHub to suspend any routine procedures for document destruction and take all necessary measures to prevent the destruction of documents and information relevant to the subject matter of this letter.

The Fees Rule. The agency’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees became effective on May 12, 2025. The Rule requires that “the total price of a live-event ticket (including all mandatory fees and charges) be presented to consumers eve1y place price is displayed.” The FTC alleged that StubHub knew about the Fees Rule and its requirements well before it went into effect. The company submitted comments regarding the FTC’s rulemaking for the Fees Rule, supporting “efforts to increase price transparency for consumers nationwide with the federal adoption of all-in pricing [AIP] in the live event ticketing industry….” However, the FTC alleged that StubHub “planned to violate the Fees Rule from the start,” and that an internal compliance plan “explained that [StubHub] would not comply with the Fees Rule in full by the May 12, 2025 effective date but would instead comply in phases over two days, starting after the Fees Rule was already in effect.”

The FTC’s complaint. The FTC’s case focused on StubHub’s conduct between May 12 and May 14, 2025. The complaint alleged that StubHub’s pricing practices misrepresented ticket costs, causing consumers to pay more than the prices they were first shown, and that StubHub displayed ticket prices that “did not include all mandatory fees charges” knowing that “its failure to comply with the Fees Rule would give it a competitive advantage against its competitors.” According to the complaint, StubHub’s advertised ticket prices excluded mandatory service and fulfillment fees at multiple stages of the purchasing process. The complaint detailed a sample transaction for a May 14, 2025, NFL game showing that StubHub advertised prices on the Ticket Selection and Ticket Information Screens “without disclosing the total price.” The complaint noted that it was only after pressing the “Select” button—when the customer was taken to the Checkout Screen—that “itemized costs for an individual ticket, including ‘Tickets,’ ‘Fees,’ and ‘Taxes’” were displayed. However, even then, the complaint notes, StubHub “only presented line items for Tickets, Fees, and Taxes—without totaling these line items.” The total price was not displayed, and after the mandatory fees and charges were added, the total price “was 25% higher than the price initially advertised.”

FTC Act and Fees Rule violations. The FTC asserted two principal claims. First, it alleged that StubHub violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by misrepresenting “that the advertised price of a ticket was the price consumers would pay for the ticket,” when, “in numerous instances,” the advertised price “did not include all mandatory fees and charges.”

Second, the FTC alleged that StubHub violated the Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by offering, displaying, or advertising ticket prices “without clearly and conspicuously disclosing the total price.” The FTC alleged that violations of the Fees Rule also constitute “unfair or deceptive act[s] or practice[s] in or affecting commerce,” in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act.

Settlement terms and consumer refunds. Under the proposed stipulated order, StubHub will pay $10 million into a consumer fund to provide redress to eligible consumers. Eligible consumers include those who purchased tickets from StubHub “to a live event in the United States from May 12, 2025 through May 14, 2025, and has not otherwise received a refund or chargeback for their purchase.” The payments to consumers must be made to consumers within 90 days of the entry of the order.

The proposed order also prohibits StubHub from misrepresenting the total price of goods or services, fees, final payment amounts, or other material facts related to ticket sales.

The Case is No. 1:26-cv-02924.

Judge: Failla, K.

Attorneys: Karen Jo Mandel for the FTC.

Companies: StubHub Holdings, Inc.

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