Canadian Heritage Committee on May 7th, 2019

[Laura Dooley, Head of Global Government Relations, StubHub]

It's important to note that the fee isn't collected at the point of listing; it's collected only at the point of sale. If you choose to list a ticket and in your experience it didn't sell because the market was saturated and perhaps it wasn't priced at a desirable rate, you wouldn't have to pay a sell fee to list on our site.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Can I ask one more?

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

No, I'm sorry you can't.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

It's Mr. Shields now, for seven minutes.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you.

Wayne, ask your last question.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

I'm curious. Let's assume you have associations with sports teams. Why would a team want to have an association with StubHub? For example, I was the owner of the Saint John Sea Dogs, a major junior hockey team. I have a box office and I have ticket sellers in my organization who are responsible for selling those tickets and driving revenue for my team. If I thought—I'm asking this out of ignorance—that I needed to go to StubHub, I would fire my ticket sales people.

Can you clarify that for me?

[Paul Nowosad]

I wouldn't fire anybody right now.

We have partnerships globally with a large number of artists, teams and venues. The position is that we have a significant market share when it comes to buyer interest, buyer trust and buyer loyalty. We are a channel, as I think as someone described it earlier, that reaches buyers or fans. We can bring fans to events.

By virtue of someone's having a partnership with us, in some cases we are able to put those tickets into the market, aid those seats' being sold, and also help with the monetization of those tickets for the benefit of the artists or the venue.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Is it safe to say “a wider market”?

[Paul Nowosad]

It can be. Our great success, I think, is the fact that 16% on average of our Canadian events are purchased by foreign attendees. That's bringing people to the Canadian market to experience Canadian events and Canadian culture. That's a really positive thing about a global platform.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

But you would never be able to buy a ticket on StubHub cheaper than at the box office—never.

[Paul Nowosad]

Most recently, I can give you the example of Coachella, which is a big musical festival in the States. Most of the tickets on StubHub were below face value, giving people greater access.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Okay, thanks.

I'm sorry, Martin.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

That's fine. You ask good questions.

I'm just following up a bit because of lack of knowledge, in a sense.

Do you go and buy, or are you approached by...? I'll use the Toronto Blue Jays example. Do you approach them looking for a deal, or do they come to you, or is it both?

[Paul Nowosad]

I think in the Toronto Blue Jays example we have a relationship with Major League Baseball and then a subsequent relationship with each club that, based on their needs, leverages that league-level deal.

In some cases teams, venues or artists—as is the case of the concert tonight, to be fair—come to us and look for opportunities to extend their brands, ensure that seats are filled and maximize their market position. In some cases we may go to them just in conversation, as we're all in one industry.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

In the relationship you have with them—in a sense going back to his question—have the teams given up an area and are looking to you as a contractor?

[Paul Nowosad]

I wouldn't say that. More and more I think teams or primary venues or artists are understanding that this is a good, competitive, open market. My equivalent to this is the airline side of things, in which airlines sell tickets through multiple storefronts or channels that have buyer share. They wouldn't just sell them through themselves.

The ticketing market is very similar to that. Artists and teams are realizing that their own work—their own season ticket sales, their own transferability support for season ticket holders who can't go to 82 baseball games a year—along with our ability to reach a buyer group that they may not have access to regularly and to help them earn, is turning out to be a very positive thing, as long as the market stays open, stays competitive and stays on a level footing.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Is there a demographic? If I want to buy a ticket, I phone WestJet or Air Canada. My daughter, on the other hand, goes to you and buys them, and she understands why I don't go. I want to go directly to the hotel. I want to buy a room directly from the vendor. She never does.

Is there a demographic?

[Paul Nowosad]

No. I think it's creating choice, and we're a big supporter of fan choice. If fans prefer to go to a primary—

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

But do you know whether there is a demographic?

[Paul Nowosad]

It's pretty broad. I would use the example that my parents have smart phones and my in-laws don't have phones. I think it's that, regardless of age and regardless of culture, you're seeing different people trust different channels. When they're comfortable and they understand the brand or the technology behind it, they are starting to move on their own, as long as they understand when there's a guarantee and there's trust and when they can feel that their money is going to be put to use in a responsible manner.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I guess that's the difference between my daughter and me. I would never contact you, because I don't trust you.

[Paul Nowosad]

Okay.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

She does. That's a difference, in a sense, in consumers at this point.

You had three priorities. Would you rank those three priorities that you said you had for recommendations?

[Philip Vanden Brande]

We actually had four.

In order, I would probably say that the bots are definitely number one among our propositions; that's guaranteed.

The second one would definitely be helping us prove to reseller sites...or for them to show that they are reseller sites, basically, to make sure that when consumers are buying their tickets they know where they are buying their tickets and whom they're buying them from. That would be number two.

Number three would definitely be fraud.