This summer's World Cup will be no match for Taylor Swift when it comes to live events

By Bill Peters

'She is a one of one,' StubHub CFO says

The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, with games being played in cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The live-entertainment industry is hoping for a jolt from the World Cup next month, as demand from concertgoers shows signs of cooling after a postpandemic boom. But industry insiders admit that when it comes to their bottom line, the soccer tournament's impact likely won't be as singular as, say, Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour."

During StubHub's earnings call on Wednesday, executives at the ticket-resale platform said they were excited about the World Cup. But when an analyst asked whether the quadrennial event would have a Swift-level impact on business, executives said it wouldn't.

"To be crystal clear, it is not comparable to Taylor Swift," StubHub (STUB) Chief Financial Officer Connie James said during the company's first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. "She is a one of one."

Shares of StubHub rose about 14% on Thursday, following better-than-expected first-quarter results a day earlier that came amid broader concerns about an industry slowdown. Some executives have pushed back on those worries, even as World Cup resale ticket prices have fallen in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Lawrence Fey, the CEO of ticketing marketplace Vivid Seats (SEAT), said the World Cup is providing a boost, although he also noted it likely wouldn't have as big of an impact as Swift, whose "Eras Tour" in 2023 and 2024 was big enough to create a spike in hotel prices and ride-sharing in some areas.

"I think World Cup has been a pretty meaningful tailwind and I think broadly consistent with what we touched on in prior quarters, where we frame the opportunity as something larger than an A-list concert tour, but perhaps less than Taylor Swift," he said.

He said a typical concert tour by high-profile A-list artist might account for around 1% of the company's gross order value for the year, or the total amount of orders processed on its platform. A tour by someone like Swift might account for a high-single-digit percentage of that metric. The World Cup, he said, was on pace to make up a "low- to mid-single-digits" percentage of gross order value.

The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19, with games being played in cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Tickets went on sale in October and have sold for as much as $10,000, with the cheapest options to see the U.S. team running around $1,640.

Fans have more recently balked at the cost of a seat at a match. Resale prices of World Cup tickets have fallen 24% from roughly a month ago, according to TicketData. The cheapest resale tickets for group-stage matches stood at around $550, on average, according to the site.

FIFA, soccer's governing body, said demand was still strong, however, according to NBC News, which also noted the falling resale prices.

Demand for live events roared back after the economy reopened following pandemic lockdowns, with concert attendance peaking in 2023, according to industry tracker Pollstar. But some artists - including the Pussycat Dolls, Post Malone and Meghan Trainor - have canceled or pushed back tour plans this year.

While the artists cited various reasons for their shifting plans, like the desire to spend time with family or finish an album, some speculate that the changes were a response to low demand for tickets. Concerns have grown over "blue-dot fever," a term used to describe a prevalence of blue dots that represent empty seats on venue seat maps.

Vivid Seats attributed those cancellations to some degree of "mispricing" - that is, ticket prices being too high - or to "some cap on potential for growth for the year." Moreover, Ticketmaster parent Live Nation's (LYV) figures point to lower fan attendance in North America, although international turnout has been better as the company expands abroad.

Live Nation's management said it has seen no signs of a slowdown for concerts. StubHub on Wednesday also said it wasn't seeing a downturn in enthusiasm for concerts, even as higher prices for things like gas threaten to put a crimp in consumer spending.

"The quick answer is no," StubHub CEO Eric Baker said. "We haven't seen any impact on that."

-Bill Peters

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-14-26 2028ET