StubHub’s IPO filing shows it spent $2 billion on sales and marketing since 2022, 48% of its revenue

StubHub, an online platform where fans — and, of course, touts posing as fans — go to resell and exchange tickets for sports matches, concerts, and other shows, filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. Though details aren’t yet finalized, the company’s reportedly looking to raise over $1 billion at a market value of $16.5 billion, according to sources cited in the Financial Times. 

Hottest ticker in town?

In July last year, StubHub said it would be postponing plans for a potential summer IPO amid “stagnant market conditions” and a lack of other major consumer offerings. However, seemingly buoyed by some $1.77 billion revenues in 2024, helped by resale demand for Taylor Swift’s 149-date Eras Tour, the 25-year-old ticket seller is now pressing on with plans to hit the market as “STUB.” 

Still, while the company’s sales rose last year, its associated operating costs did too, sending operating income to $138 million for 2024, compared to $253 million the year before.

StubHub’s biggest expense? Getting its name out there.

Even though it’s long been one of the biggest players in the resale game, having been acquired by eBay in 2007 and then resold to merge with co-founder Eric Baker’s European equivalent, Viagogo, in 2022, StubHub is still spending a lot of money each year to establish itself as the go-to resale platform. Last year, for example, the company spent a whopping $828 million on sales and marketing, most of which went on “fixed and variable marketing and advertising expenses,” per the filing. That was 47% of the company’s revenue; in 2022, it was a genuinely mind-boggling 63% of the company’s takings.

For a platform that often faces criticism from its users about a lack of support on fake tickets, ticket touts, price gouging, and technical issues, the company’s operations and support budget looks pretty measly. Last year, the company spent just $59 million on operations and support — its sales and marketing spend was nearly 14x that amount.