"We purchased 4 FIFA World Cup tickets (France vs Senegal, MetLife Stadium) for $2,189 back in December. Three days before the game, the seller 'couldn't deliver.' StubHub's so-called FanProtect Guarantee? When we clicked the link — ZERO replacement tickets available. The same seats are now listed at DOUBLE the price. Oh, and our $300 non-refundable parking pass? Gone. This is a deliberate bait-and-switch scheme."
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 · LIVE INVESTIGATION
Welcome to the hub
for Stub scams.
Across dozens of matches and thousands of miles, the same scheme keeps happening: a fan buys a ticket months ahead, thinking it's real. What they don't know is StubHub lets sellers list tickets they don't actually have yet, a practice called speculative selling. Speculative sellers are betting they can buy the ticket later for less than they already sold it to you for. Days or hours before kickoff, the seller "couldn't deliver," because there was never a real ticket to deliver, and comparable seats are selling on StubHub for tens of thousands of dollars more.
SEE IT YOURSELF
This isn't a rumor. This is StubHub's own seat map.
It's not just the final, either: marquee group-stage matchups have seen prices spike more than 100% in a matter of days, according to Ticketdata.com via Yahoo Sports.
THE STORIES THAT STARTED IT
A few of the scams. There are many more.
"I bought Norway vs. France World Cup tickets 6 months ago, but 2 weeks before the game I'm told the seller was banned and you'll only refund me. Comparable tickets are now ~$1,700 each, so a refund means I can't go. Please make this right and replace my tickets."
"StubHub offered replacement tickets. Then told me there were none. Then offered a refund. I selected the refund. Then StubHub told me last-minute replacement tickets were available after all. Today StubHub refused the refund and spent more time arguing semantics than solving the problem. Seller fails to deliver. StubHub offers refund. Customer accepts. StubHub says 'actually, never mind.'"
"I sold tickets in January to the World Cup. I get an email saying the sale was cancelled due to a 'security concern' from the buyer. Fast forward to this morning — THEY CHARGED ME FOR NOT PROVIDING THE TICKETS. Best part? I have two other sales supposed to get paid out. Now payment will be withheld until this is resolved. They prey on people and scam people KNOWINGLY."
HOW THE STUB GETS SCAMMED
The Hub for Stub Scams.
1
Fan buys a ticket to a World Cup match months in advance, books flights and hotels around it.
2
What they don't know: StubHub let the seller list a ticket they didn't actually have, a practice called speculative selling.
3
Days or hours before the match, StubHub says the seller "couldn't deliver." The "FanProtect Guarantee" shows zero replacements.
4
StubHub claims there's nothing left in that price range, then offers a refund, or a worse seat, while comparable tickets are now selling for tens of thousands more.
Head of the Scam
StubHub CEO Eric Baker isn't just the man running the platform fans are complaining about. He's also the managing partner of Andro Capital, a fund that describes itself as a ticketing hedge fund and that actively sells tickets on StubHub's own platform. StubHub's SEC S-1 filing discloses this as a related-party conflict of interest, and shows Andro generated real fee revenue for StubHub in the years before its IPO.
Andro is funded in part through the Andro Capital Cayman Feeder Fund, registered in the Cayman Islands.
The CEO of the platform fans trust to deliver their tickets runs an offshore-backed hedge fund that sells tickets on his own marketplace and profits from the same resale activity StubHub claims to merely facilitate. That isn't an accusation. It's in his own company's federal filing.
FAKE GRASSROOTS
The Fan Group Scam
Lawmakers hear from groups that sound like they speak for fans. They don't. Here's who's actually funding them.
Ticket Policy Forum
No pretense of independence: its own site lists StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, TickPick, and Gametime as members. This is the industry lobbying directly, branded as policy research.
Coalition for Ticket Fairness
Uses consumer-rights language while funded by ticket brokers. Cites the StubHub-commissioned "Bradshaw Advisory" report as independent proof that price caps cause fraud.
Sports Fans Coalition
Presents as grassroots. In Maryland's 2025 fight over a fan-protection bill, it spent $42,000 lobbying against the bill, alongside StubHub and Vivid Seats. — MD lobbying database
Chamber of Progress
A tech-industry coalition with StubHub and Vivid Seats as named corporate partners, producing reports that frame scalpers as fan allies. — Pluribus News, 2023
National Consumers League
Does legitimate consumer work broadly, but takes industry funding and its ticketing positions consistently track with secondary-market interests.
StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats have spent over $1 million lobbying against fan-protection bills in California this legislative session alone. When one of these groups testifies "on behalf of fans," ask who's paying them. — CalMatters, April 2026
Got scammed? Report it.
Fix the Tix →StubHub spent over $1,000,000 lobbying in California to fool fans and legislators.
This site cost $13.19 to tell the truth.