Editor Note: ‘Early Entrants’ is a series of sports business ‘rumblings’ before the news breaks.
A pair of well-connected ticketing industry insiders tell JohnWallStreet that Stubhub has notified at least 100 employees that they are being let go. Speculation exists that Viagogo is behind the layoff orders. Back in November, eBay, Inc. agreed to sell the secondary ticketing marketplace to its London based competitor for $4.05 billion.
One source suggested “Eric Baker and co. have likely realized they’re paying +/- $1 billion too much (they paid 25x EBITDA) and now need to slash salaries to make the debits and credits more palatable.” While the deal is expected to close, it may not happen as “swiftly” as one might expect an all-cash pact to; we’ve heard that Viagogo has been shopping minority stakes. The Walton family is among those who have been approached.
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