After the Yankees ended their partnership with StubHub following the 2012 season, it seemed the team wanted to make it difficult for fans to purchase tickets on the third party market for a low price. However, after a brutal beginning to the 2016 season, the team had a sudden change of heart, and will now give fans more options when it comes to buying cheap tickets.
The New York Yankees and StubHub are set to announce a deal that would once again make StubHub the official re-seller of the Yankees.
Both sides have been working on a deal since Spring Training, but with attendance declining due to the Yankees poor play, the team decided to end the feud with the popular third party seller. Prior to the 2016 season, the team announced fans would no longer be able to print tickets at home and must either show a mobile or a physical ticket prior to entering Yankee Stadium. The only third party market site available was the team’s own Yankee Ticket Exchange, which is powered by Ticketmaster.
Fans were still able to use StubHub, but they had to either order their tickets well in advance or go to the StubHub office located near Yankee Stadium. More fuel was added to the growing fire by COO Lonn Trost when he implied fans that purchased seats in the Legends Suite wouldn’t “feel comfortable sitting next to someone who had never sat in a premium location before”.
Since then, Yankees fans such as comedian John Oliver protested Trost’s comments; Oliver ran a contest where he sold his Legends Seats for 25 cents if fans could dress as if they had never sat in the Legends Seats.
The deal would take place effective immediately and will undo the current Ticketmaster resale deal.