Two California residents have filed a federal lawsuit against StubHub, alleging that the ticket reseller engaged in “false and misleading” sales practices that resulted in customers being unable to attend World Cup matches. The lawsuit, filed in New York, seeks to represent hundreds or thousands of World Cup fans who purchased tickets that were allegedly nonexistent, revoked, or invalidated due to issues with FIFA's digital ticketing infrastructure.
Plaintiffs Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria claim they purchased tickets for group stage matches but never received them. Moghal reportedly paid $1,905 for three tickets to a June 18 match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but despite conflicting information from StubHub and a last-minute assurance that the tickets would be delivered, she never received them. The lawsuit states she also did not receive a refund, a violation of StubHub's FanProtect Guarantee.
Renteria purchased two tickets for a June 18 match between Mexico and South Korea for $2,294. Similar to Moghal, he received a notice that his tickets were ready, only to have the order canceled. He was eventually refunded after considerable complaint, but incurred travel costs to Mexico.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and asks that StubHub be prohibited from selling World Cup tickets in the future, with profits from such sales to be awarded to affected customers.
StubHub has not commented on the lawsuit but stated that its "singular goal is to get fans into events." The company maintains that its FanProtect Guarantee offers replacement tickets or a full refund if issues arise. StubHub also stated that the problems experienced by fans were largely due to the event organizer's ticketing infrastructure.
FIFA, the tournament's organizer, has stated that it has no oversight or control over secondary market ticket transactions on third-party platforms and rejects any suggestion that issues on these platforms are a result of FIFA's ticketing infrastructure. FIFA encourages fans to purchase tickets through its own marketplace, which adds a 30% surcharge to resold tickets.
Fans have been vocal on social media for weeks regarding tickets that did not arrive, last-minute cancellations, and difficulties coordinating with both FIFA's system and third-party resellers.