StubHub, the online secondary ticketing company owned by LiquidSeats Inc., is scheduled to announce this week a multiyear deal with USA Today to feature its StubHub Ticket Marketplace on the national newspaper's Web site, according to executives with the San Francisco-based company.
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| Web deal is to be announced this week. |
The deal will give usatoday.com's 35 million monthly visitors access to a system that lets individuals post tickets for sale in fixed-price or auction formats, and ships tickets to buyers via Federal Express.
Other StubHub partners include MLB, NBA and NFL teams, as well as university athletic programs, performing artists and media companies. Last month, the company signed deals with several other major U.S. newspapers, including the New York Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Seattle Times.
StubHub President Eric Baker said the deal marks the latest effort by newspapers to compete online with eBay in the secondary ticketing arena. Last year, eBay's sports segment generated more than $1 billion in sales.
"[Publications] continue to look for ways to take that share back from eBay and be relevant from a commerce perspective," Baker said.
Financial terms of the deal with USA Today were not disclosed. Baker said StubHub and USA Today will share the revenue from the 15 percent fee charged to sellers and 10 percent fee charged to buyers. He said StubHub's other revenue streams are set-up costs and licensing.
