StubHub has reorganized its North American business, naming three general managers to oversee its sports and performing arts operations.
The resale ticket marketplace has split its activities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico into three groups; one for the NFL, NBA, and NHL, led by former NBA and NHL executive Scott Jablonski; a second for MLB, the NCAA and other sports, led by former Wal-Mart e-commerce executive Jill Krimmel; and a third for music, theater and performing arts, managed by StubHub veteran Jeff Poirier.
Each of the three will report to Perkins Miller, StubHub GM of North America, and will manage strategy, partnerships and event operations in their respective areas. The three groups were structured to have relative balance in terms of sales volume and seasonality.
“As we took a closer look at the business, we found that our partnerships were still growing and were of greater importance as teams and leagues and venues continually want to get a deeper look at their markets,” Miller said. “So this structure will allow us to work with more precision in each of these areas and with each of our partners, and I believe that precision and focus will serve us well.”
Jablonski spent six years at the NHL from 2009-15, ending as vice president of NHL club business and analytics, and prior to that worked two years in the NBA’s team marketing and business operations group. Most recently, he was the founder and chief executive of San Francisco-based 77 Analytics. Jablonski will be a key figure in StubHub’s new partnership with the NFL that will begin this year and designates the company as the league’s authorized secondary ticketing partner.
Krimmel, meanwhile, led several categories of online merchandise sales at retail giant Wal-Mart. Among her duties will be to lead the implementation of a newly agreed-upon third contract term with MLB.
The hiring of Jablonski and Krimmel was led by the internal recruiting team of StubHub parent company eBay.
While this reorganization happens, eBay President and Chief Executive Devin Wenig has yet to name a new StubHub president following last summer’s promotion of Scott Cutler to senior vice president of the Americas for eBay. There remains no timetable for when a successor will be named, and there have been no publicly named candidates. Miller and StubHub Chief Financial Officer Ajay Gopal have operational leadership responsibility in the interim.
