StubHub will refund $10 million to consumers and change how it shows ticket prices after reaching a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over fee disclosures on live-event tickets. The order covers a limited number of transactions over a three-day stretch in May 2025, when the agency said the company advertised prices on its website without clearly showing the full amount buyers would pay.
The FTC said the case centered on mandatory fees that were not disclosed clearly and conspicuously at the start of the purchase process. Under the settlement, StubHub must make the total price more prominent on its platform, a move the agency says is required under its Fees Rule, which began being enforced in May 2025 and requires businesses to show the full price of live-event tickets upfront.
Christopher Mufarrige said the rule makes it clear that the total price of live-event tickets must be disclosed upfront so consumers can make fully informed purchasing decisions. He added that price transparency is essential to a free and competitive marketplace and said the settlement shows the commission’s commitment to making sure consumers pay the price they are promised.
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The company’s response was narrower. A StubHub spokesperson said the settlement covers only a limited number of transactions spanning just three days in May 2025, when some listings on the site may have shown ticket prices without fees included. StubHub said it disagreed with the FTC’s view of the case but agreed to refund part of the affected buyers’ fees to resolve the agency’s concerns.
The case fits into a broader push on ticketing that dates to March of last year, when Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the FTC to take appropriate action to ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process, including the secondary ticketing market. Trump said his administration was committed to making the arts and entertainment as accessible as possible, and he described the rent-seeking behaviors surrounding the ticketing industry as contrary to that goal.
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For consumers, the practical result is straightforward: StubHub has to show the full price more clearly, and the agency is signaling that even a short window of noncompliance can draw enforcement. The unresolved question is how widely the new disclosure standards will be pressed across the rest of the ticketing market now that the rule is being enforced.
