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StubHub to launch in UK
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 16 September 2011
eBay is planning on launching its US-based secondary ticketing website StubHub in the UK, according to the Financial Times.
It will put the American ticket resale business up against Viagogo, which is interesting mainly because the two firms have a founder in common in Eric Baker, who after co-founding StubHub in the US departed that company and subsequently set up the Viagogo venture over here.
StubHub UK will also compete with its parent company, eBay, which provides a secondary ticketing service via its general auction website. Whether the decision to launch StubHub over here is motivated by the fact the online auctions giant has fallen behind more specialist sites like Viagogo and Seatwave in the ticket resale market isn’t clear. It’s possible that StubHub, who still operate more or less autonomously from their owner’s main business, simply have expansion ambitions.
According to the FT the UK launch will happen in quarter four, and will include some standalone high street retail outlets as well as its online operations. Commenting on the move, the aforementioned Baker from Viagogo told the FT: “My creation is now chasing me across the ocean. It has been very successful for eBay in the States so it’s not surprising that they’re starting to go international with it”.
