stubhub Archives - Wakeman Consulting Group

The Ticket Industry’s Biggest Fight is Really a Mirage

For decades, the ticket industry has been built on one battle. Regulation versus a “free market.” Closed versus open. Both sides claim similar things: “We are fighting for the fans.” Protecting the fan. Serving the fan. It’s a lie. Not an intentional one. But a lie. Every solution either side offers adds a layer between […]

The Secondary Ticket Market is Free Falling…

The secondary market is in free fall… Not metaphorically. Let me show you some evidence: 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 […]

The Fix Was Always In

Dan Wall stood in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday and said there’s “zero chance” the states will settle. Judge Subramanian shot back: “Not with that attitude.” (I like judges with the same dismissive attitude towards nonsense that I have.) 25 states are still fighting. They know this settlement is a bad deal. It doesn’t stop […]

I TOLD YOU SO! StubHub’s Earnings and Stock Crash!

About a year ago, I wrote about StubHub’s S-1. I spent days reading through it, analyzing it. I came away skeptical…if I’m being nice. Yesterday, the market caught up to me. StubHub’s stock fell 12.8%. Q4 revenue fell 16% to $449 million. Full year loss? $1.9 billion. I told you so. Let me recount the […]

The BIG Ticket: StubHub Delays IPO

Hi! Okay, I get it…you liked the StubHub analysis. I appreciate everyone who sent me a note about StubHub delaying its IPO. This delay points to a few things: This is not the first time StubHub has delayed an IPO. I’m not an investment advisor, but from a brand and strategy POV, every delay makes launching the IPO […]

The BIG Ticket: Let’s Grok My StubHub Analysis…

Hi! Thank you for your notes about yesterday’s post. Thank you for sharing the post. Thank you for reading. I received a bunch of notes. I took a specific angle in my analysis based on my work in branding and strategy. Some of the ideas I had were too “in the weeds”. As one comment […]

The BIG Ticket: StubHub’s S-1 Filing

Hi! Below is the longest thing I’ve written in a while. I went through 3 or 4 drafts of it. I will probably come back to this story from different angles because it lets me teach so many ideas from my consulting and teaching that I want you to know. Before I give you my […]