StubHub is being sued by customers who allege the ticket reseller's inability to fulfill orders crushed their dreams of attending World Cup matches. Julia Reeker Moghal and Reuben Renteria, both of California, filed the lawsuit in federal court in New York, claiming that StubHub engaged in false and misleading sales practices. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, contends that Moghal and Renteria are among hundreds or even thousands of fans who purchased tickets only to discover they did not exist, were revoked without warning, or were erased due to FIFA's poor digital infrastructure.
Details of the Lawsuit
According to the lawsuit, Moghal paid $1,905 for three tickets to the June 18 Switzerland-Bosnia and Herzegovina match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. She never received the tickets nor a refund, violating StubHub's FanProtect Guarantee. As the match approached, she received conflicting information: first a notice that tickets were ready, then a cancellation, then a promise of delivery an hour before the match. She drove to the stadium and waited in line but never got the tickets. She was promised a refund but never received it. Similarly, Renteria paid $2,294 for two tickets to the Mexico-South Korea match in Guadalajara, Mexico. He also received a notice that tickets were ready, only to have StubHub cancel the order. He was refunded only after significant complaints but had to cover the cost of traveling to Mexico.
StubHub's Response
StubHub declined to comment on the lawsuit but issued a statement emphasizing its commitment to getting fans into events. The company said its FanProtect Guarantee provides replacement tickets or a full refund if anything goes wrong. StubHub attributed the issues to problems with the event organizer's own ticketing infrastructure.
FIFA's Stance
FIFA encourages fans to buy tickets through its own marketplace, where it adds a 30 percent surcharge on every resold ticket—15 percent each from buyer and seller. In a statement, FIFA said it has no visibility over or control of secondary market transactions on third-party platforms and rejects any suggestion that functional issues experienced by users of those platforms are due to FIFA's ticketing infrastructure.
Fan Complaints and Impact
For weeks, fans have complained on social media about tickets that never arrived from resellers, last-minute cancellations, and hours spent resolving problems between FIFA's system and external platforms. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages, a ban on StubHub selling World Cup tickets, and profits from those sales to be given to affected customers.
