If you bought tickets on StubHub, several active and recently resolved legal actions may affect you. The biggest and most immediate is a StubHub class action-style settlement with the Federal Trade Commission announced in April 2026, which requires the company to refund $10 million to buyers charged undisclosed fees during a three-day window in May 2025. Alongside it sit a District of Columbia lawsuit still in court, mass arbitration campaigns targeting New York and Nevada buyers, a federal COVID-refund case, a separate California attorney general settlement that already paid out, and an investor lawsuit tied to StubHub’s IPO.
The $10 Million FTC Refund Settlement
On April 9, 2026, the FTC announced a settlement with StubHub Holdings, Inc. over what it called deceptive ticket pricing. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 1:26-cv-02924), alleged StubHub violated the FTC Act and the agency’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees by hiding mandatory service and fulfillment fees on the initial listing page.1FTC. FTC v. StubHub Holdings, Case No. 252 3117
The court entered the stipulated order on April 10, 2026. StubHub must pay $10 million into a consumer redress fund and distribute refunds within 90 days to two groups of U.S. buyers who purchased live-event tickets between May 12 and May 14, 2025: those whose total price was never disclosed on the initial pricing display, and all other buyers who purchased tickets during that window.2FTC. StubHub Refunding $10 Million in Fees to Consumers After Deceptive Ticket Pricing
If you’re eligible, StubHub is required to notify you by email within 14 days of the order. Payments go out in the original form of payment, or by PayPal if that fails. Claims that exceed the fund are paid proportionally. The order also permanently bars StubHub from advertising ticket prices without disclosing the total price more prominently than any other pricing figure and from misrepresenting the nature, purpose, or refundability of fees. The Commission voted 2-0 to authorize the action. A StubHub spokesperson said the company “strongly disagree[d] with the FTC’s view of the case” but was “addressing their concerns by refunding a portion of those buyers’ fees.”3The Hill. StubHub to Pay Customers $10M in Settlement, FTC Says
The DC Attorney General’s Lawsuit Over Drip Pricing
The District of Columbia’s Attorney General, Brian Schwalb, sued StubHub on July 31, 2024, alleging its “drip pricing” model violated D.C. consumer protection law. The complaint says StubHub tested all-in pricing in 2014 and 2015, found that hiding fees until checkout increased both purchase rates and total spend, and then made the hidden-fee model its standard practice.4OAG DC. Attorney General Schwalb Sues StubHub for Deceptive Pricing
According to the complaint, StubHub sold nearly 5 million tickets to D.C. consumers since 2015 and collected an estimated $118 million in hidden fees.5CNBC. DC Attorney General Sues StubHub Alleging Deceptive Pricing The suit also accuses StubHub of using countdown timers at checkout to manufacture urgency, and seeks restitution and penalties. StubHub called its practices “consistent with the law, our competitors’ practices, and the broader e-commerce sector.”6PCMag. DC Attorney General Sues StubHub for Deceptive Pricing, Junk Fees The court denied StubHub’s motion to dismiss on February 13, 2025, and the case remains active. Any restitution would flow through the AG’s office if the case succeeds.
Mass Arbitration for New York and Nevada Buyers
StubHub’s terms of use include a mandatory arbitration clause and a class action waiver, which is why most private challenges to its pricing move through mass arbitration rather than a conventional class action.7StubHub. StubHub Terms of Use Law firms have organized these campaigns by recruiting individual claimants and filing them together.
Labaton Keller Sucharow and Berger Montague are running claims for buyers who purchased tickets for events in New York or Nevada between April 2022 and April 2025, alleging violations of New York General Business Law sections 349 and 350 and Nevada’s statute prohibiting drip pricing for event tickets. The firms have said successful New York claimants could recover up to $550 in statutory damages per claim.8Labaton. StubHub Drip Pricing Mass Arbitration
Other firms have focused on New York buyers who purchased tickets for in-state events on or after August 29, 2022, with estimated recoveries of $50 to $500 per claimant.9Class Action U. StubHub Mass Arbitration Claims Firms are advancing filing and arbitration costs for the people who sign on.
Whether the Arbitration Clause Sticks
Courts have not agreed on whether StubHub can force buyers into arbitration. In 2023, a Texas appeals court ruled against StubHub in StubHub, Inc. v. Ball, finding the company hadn’t proved the user actually agreed to the arbitration terms because it produced no registration screenshots, no click record, and no copies of update emails.10FindLaw. StubHub, Inc. v. Ball In April 2026, however, U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead in Washington reached the opposite result in Christensen v. StubHub, Inc., holding that StubHub’s “sign-in wrap” agreement was enforceable and compelling arbitration.11ClassAction.org. Christensen v. StubHub, Arbitration Order Whether your case ends up in arbitration or court can turn on how you set up your account.
COVID-19 Refund Cases
A second front opened in March 2020, when StubHub stopped issuing cash refunds for pandemic-canceled events and offered 120% credits instead, which buyers said broke the “FanProtect Guarantee.” Cases were consolidated into In Re: StubHub Refund Litigation in the Northern District of California before Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr.12Expert Institute. Class Counsel Named in COVID-19 MDL Against StubHub The class covered U.S. residents who bought tickets for events canceled on or after March 25, 2020 and never got a refund.
The Ninth Circuit issued a mixed ruling in August 2023, sending some plaintiffs to arbitration and letting others stay in court depending on whether they had adequate notice of the arbitration terms.13U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In Re StubHub Refund Litigation, Ninth Circuit Memorandum By February 2026, the remaining claims had narrowed further. Judge Gilliam granted StubHub summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ request for a corrective advertising campaign and dismissed the Unfair Competition Law claim, finding traditional monetary damages weren’t available under that statute.14Bloomberg Tax. StubHub Buyers Denied Corrective Ad Campaign Over Refund Policy No final settlement or class certification has been reported in the federal MDL.
The California AG’s COVID Refund Settlement (Already Paid)
California resolved its own investigation separately. In People v. StubHub, approved by the Los Angeles Superior Court on August 22, 2024, StubHub agreed to a stipulated judgment memorializing $20 million in cash refunds it had already paid to more than 45,000 California consumers after reversing its credits-only policy in May 2021. StubHub also paid a $295,000 penalty. The judgment bars StubHub from misrepresenting its refund policies and requires it to honor existing ones unless buyers give informed consent to changes.15California OAG. Attorney General Bonta Announces Settlement With StubHub Over Ticket Refunds During COVID-19 Refunds under this settlement have already been distributed.
The Earlier California Hidden-Fee Class Settlement
StubHub had faced hidden-fee claims before. In Susan Wang, et al. v. StubHub, Inc. (Case No. CGC-18-564120) in San Francisco Superior Court, California buyers who purchased tickets on StubHub’s website or mobile site between September 2015 and September 2019 alleged total costs were significantly higher than advertised. The case settled for $2.5 million in cash and $20 million in credits toward future StubHub purchases. Class members could receive up to $20 in cash or an estimated $80 to $133 credit. Final approval came in mid-2022.16Top Class Actions. StubHub Ticket Fees Class Action Settlement The claims window is closed.
The IPO Securities Class Action
One more case doesn’t involve ticket buyers at all. After StubHub’s September 2025 IPO, the Rosen Law Firm filed a securities class action alleging the registration statement was materially misleading because it didn’t disclose changes in vendor payment timing that affected free cash flow. The lead-plaintiff deadline was January 23, 2026, and no class had been certified as of mid-2026.17Rosen Legal. StubHub Holdings, Inc. Securities Class Action This case is for people who bought StubHub stock, not tickets.
What to Do If You Think You’re Owed Money
Check your email for a notice from StubHub if you bought a live-event ticket in the U.S. between May 12 and May 14, 2025; that’s the FTC refund group, and StubHub is required to reach out directly. If you bought tickets for events in New York or Nevada in the windows the mass arbitration firms have set, you can sign up with a participating firm rather than wait for a class action, since StubHub’s terms would likely block one. If you were a California buyer who never received a COVID-era refund, the state AG settlement’s payments have already gone out through StubHub. And if your purchase falls outside all of these windows, the DC and MDL cases are still moving, but no consumer payments have been ordered yet.