StubHub Sued by Fans Over World Cup Ticket Cancellations

StubHub is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by customers who claim the ticket reseller's inability to fulfill World Cup orders ruined their plans. Plaintiffs Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria allege that StubHub engaged in "false and misleading" sales practices, leaving them without tickets they had purchased for group stage matches.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, suggests that hundreds or thousands of fans may have been affected. The plaintiffs claim that tickets they bought either did not exist, were revoked without warning, or had been erased due to issues with the tournament's organizer, FIFA. Moghal stated she paid $1,905 for three tickets to a Switzerland-Bosnia and Herzegovina match and never received them or a refund, despite StubHub's FanProtect Guarantee. Renteria paid $2,294 for two tickets to a Mexico-South Korea match and, after initial cancellation, was refunded only after significant complaints, but still incurred travel costs.

StubHub declined to comment on the lawsuit but issued a statement asserting that its "singular goal is to get fans into events" and that "the issues fans have experienced are largely driven by problems with the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure." FIFA, in response, stated it "has no visibility over, or control of, secondary market ticket transactions carried out on third-party platforms" and rejected any suggestion that its infrastructure was at fault for problems on third-party sites.