Tickets that never arrived: the nightmare of resale at the World Cup
Bina Ramroop burst into tears when she found out that she would not be entering the stadium. He had bought two tickets for Spain-Cape Verde for $485 each on StubHub, a gift for his grandson’s 13th birthday. But at the gate, the tickets were not transferred to the FIFA system. StubHub offered a refund; She just wanted to watch the game.
“I didn’t want a refund, I didn’t want my money back. I wanted to go to the game,” Ramroop said.
She wasn’t the only one. On social media, hundreds of fans reported tickets canceled at the last minute, failed transfers and hours lost between customer service on resale platforms and the FIFA box office. Most complaints point to StubHub, although there are also reports from SeatGeek and Vivid Seats. The causes range from technical failures to sellers who never had the tickets.
Shared responsibility?
StubHub blamed FIFA for “poor technological infrastructure” and late-imposed transfer restrictions. FIFA, for its part, recommends buying on its official market, where it charges a 30% surcharge. Industry analyst Scott Friedman noted that some sellers list tickets without having them, hoping prices will drop. But as prices rose, those sellers couldn’t deliver.
“This is nothing new. It has happened in other events, but now it is world news because of the World Cup,” Friedman explained.
Cases that hurt
Pape Ndaw bought two tickets for Netherlands-Japan in December. Two days before the game, StubHub informed him that the seller could not deliver them. He accepted store credit, but replacement tickets cost more than $1,500 each. Their son, a soccer fan, cried when he found out they wouldn’t go.
“It was disastrous. He had told all his friends that he was going to that game. He literally cried,” Ndaw said.
Patrick O’Neil had better luck. He traveled to Atlanta with his family to see Spain-Cape Verde. Two of his five tickets transferred; the other three do not. His son and an uncle entered the stadium; the rest watched the game from a bar. After the spread of his case, StubHub offered tickets for another game. O’Neil asked to donate them to a nonprofit organization, and the company agreed.
“StubHub is not evil, but it is part of a system that makes it difficult for normal people to watch a game,” O’Neil said.
StubHub’s FanProtect warranty promises replacement or refund, but clarifies that it is at the company’s “entire discretion.” Sports law expert Michael McCann noted that such language limits the buyer’s options.
Meanwhile, fans like Ramroop returned home empty-handed. Her grandson tried to console her: “Grandma, it’s okay.” She still cries.
