Penalty flag thrown against StubHub for not disclosing total ticket prices online

WASHINGTON, D.C. – StubHub, the nation’s largest ticket exchange and resale ticket provider, apparently didn’t play by the Federal Trade Commission fees rule and now will pay a hefty penalty. The FTC reported Thursday that StubHub failed to disclose the total ticket price for live events, which is in violation of its Fees Rule, and is required to pay $10 million to settle the charges. Ticket prices on the company’s website did not disclose up-front how much consumers would actually pay, including all mandatory fees. “The Commission’s Fees Rule makes it very clear that the total price of liveevent tickets must be disclosed up-front to enable consumers to make fully informed purchasing decisions,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Price transparency is essential to a free and competitive marketplace. Today’s settlement underscores the Commission’s commitment to ensuring that consumers pay the price they are promised.” StubHub Holdings Inc. received a warning letter from the FTC in May 2025 stating that multiple prices displayed on its website appeared to violate the Fees Rule. The rule took effect on May 12, 2025. Two days after the new rule was in place, StubHub allegedly failed to provide the total price for tickets – including high-demand National Football League tickets – after the NFL schedule was announced. Thursday’s action also came after President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order on Ticketing, which includes a directive for the FTC to “take appropriate action … to ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticketpurchase process, including the secondary ticketing market,” said the recent press release. “The proposed order settling StubHub’s alleged violations of the FTC Act and the Fees Rule requires the company to pay $10 million, which the company will use to provide monetary relief to eligible consumers through a settlement and consumer redress distribution program. The order also prohibits StubHub from misrepresenting the total price of any good or service; any fee or charge, including its nature, purpose, amount, or refundability, as well as why the fee or charge is being imposed; the final payment amount for any transaction; and any other material fact including those related to refunds or cancellations,” the release said. In addition, the proposed order also will prohibit StubHub from failing to disclose the total price more prominently than any other pricing information. Consumers eligible for potential reimbursement include those who bought tickets for live events in the United States between May 12 and 14, 2025. The first group includes those where the total price of tickets was not disclosed on the initial pricing display. The second group includes all other consumers who bought tickets during that period. The FTC filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.