The secondary market is in free fall…
Not metaphorically.
Let me show you some evidence:
- StubHub just paid a $10M settlement to the FTC over deception charges.
- Wisconsin then hit StubHub for $17M in back taxes.
- Vivid Seats stock is sliding. Down 60% or more from its peak.
- Ticketmaster: the biggest player in resale just received a monopoly verdict.
- Consumer confidence in tickets has collapsed. Fans buy. But they feel ripped off.
I see three structural problems…and no one is offering good solutions.
The Regulatory Squeeze:
California and New York are considering bans on above-face-value resale.
Massachusetts has passed a law to rein in resale.
Ontario, Canada, is getting on board. The UK may follow.
Governments around the world have decided: extraction is the enemy…and the secondary market is the leading combatant.
The secondary market’s response?
Lawsuits. Lobbying.
That’s something.
But it also looks like drift because there isn’t anything pulling the entire plan together minus “free markets” and “distribution.”
The Primary Market Pivot:
StubHub put a bet down on AI and direct issuance. SeatGeek has always bet on combining the primary and the secondary.
Vivid and TickPick are in on the direct issuance game as well.
You can’t out-tech a monopoly.
Ticketmaster owns the venues, the contracts, the data, and more.
The antitrust case in New York may open the door to creating change, but “building a better mousetrap” doesn’t matter if the foundations of the business remain the same.
The Trust Vacuum:
Fans don’t know what a ticket should cost.
Hidden fees. Dynamic pricing. Platinum seats. Resale merging with the primary to create “the market.”
Every layer adds opacity and frustration.
Fans get angry.
Everyone points at someone else.
“Not me.”
That’s not a market. That’s a maze meant to confuse and extract.
The Way Out
The secondary market built a casino. Not a marketplace.
Odds stacked against the fans. The house always wins. Lights and noise to hide the extraction.
That worked…while fans were willing to play along.
Now fans are waking up. Regulators are circling. The monopoly trial proved that the system is rotten.
Here’s the hard bit:
You don’t want governments to ban resale above face value.
You don’t want resale caps.
You definitely don’t want fans to stop buying tickets entirely.
Consider this:
A casino only works if people stay at the table.
They’re leaving.
Trust is gone. Confidence is gone.
There are still “hot” events, but those are fewer and further between.
You can keep fighting regulation.
Hiding behind “free markets” might work for a while longer.
Or you can ask the scary question:
“What happens when fans stop buying?”