eBay to buy ticketer StubHub for $310 million
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online auctioneer eBay Inc. <EBAY.O> has agreed to buy sports ticket reseller StubHub for $310 million in cash, the companies said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report the deal was imminent.
Context & Ripple Effects
eBay is paying $310 million in cash for StubHub just over a year after paying $2.6 billion or more for Skype, confirming a pattern of buying established transaction businesses rather than building them. The deal was widely expected — Reuters had already reported it was imminent, and VentureBeat picked up the announcement the same day.
The purchase lands amid friction with Google: eBay barred sellers from requesting payment via Google Checkout under its Safe Payments policy in July 2006, even while partnering with Google that August to find new ways to monetize Skype. Owning a second high-volume marketplace deepens eBay's stake in controlling payments and traffic outside its core auction listings.
First-order effects
- StubHub's fan-to-fan sports ticket resale now runs inside eBay's ecosystem, gaining its buyer traffic and payment infrastructure while giving eBay a fee-generating vertical beyond its maturing auction core.
Second-order effects
- Other secondary-ticket marketplaces now face an acquirer with demonstrated willingness to pay cash premiums for category leaders, following the $2.6 billion-plus Skype deal, which raises the bar for remaining independents.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, eBay consolidates into a portfolio of vertical marketplaces — auctions, voice, tickets — rather than a single auction site, with each large acquisition drawing shareholder scrutiny over whether the prices paid translate into returns.
The trend: eBay is assembling a portfolio of acquired secondary-market and transaction businesses, shifting from a single auction platform toward a collection of vertical marketplaces.