Is StubHub’s MLB catch good for fans?
Share Now on:
Is StubHub’s MLB catch good for fans?
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: In pro sports, ticket scalping is — let’s face it — part of the game. So much so that a lot of teams have set up Websites where fans can re-sell the seats they aren’t using.
And today, Major League Baseball will announce a deal with StubHub — that’s the online ticket reseller owned by eBay. More now from Steve Henn.
Sound — cheering at ballgame: Let me hear you, everybody! A one-ah two-ah three! Take me out…
Steve Henn: The deal gives StubHub the exclusive right to set up shop on Major League Baseball team Websites. So if you go to a team site looking for a seat you’ll have more choices. But there’s a catch:
Russ Haven: It’s going to lead to higher ticket resale prices.
Russ Haven from the New York Public Interest Research Group’s a critic of the big fees charged by StubHub, which takes 25 percent of the ticket price. He thinks this deal will make those fees worse.
Haven: It also means that no competitor can come into the marketplace and say “Hey, we can undercut those fees.”
Cash-strapped fans aren’t the only ones likely to call foul. Ticketmaster currently has deals with a dozen major-league teams to resell tickets. The company had no comment yet.
Sound — cheering at ballgame: Let me hear you, everybody! A one-ah two-ah three! Take me out…
In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
