Resale ticketing platform StubHub was forced to pay more than $16 million in legal fees following a long-running dispute with Spotlight Ticket Management.
Spotlight — a software company which does business as TicketManager — was founded back in 2007 by three former StubHub sales representatives. The company held a partnership with StubHub, but in January 2020, StubHub was sued and accused of deliberately attempting to wreck the partnership. While Spotlight was set to receive commission from StubHub for all purchases sent to the marketplace, Spotlight’s legal team claimed StubHub often failed to pay.
According to the suit, StubHub had originally agreed to pay Spotlight 7% of commission. However, StubHub did not pay for tickets purchased by Amex — one of Spotlight’s most prominent business partnerships. Spotlight’s lawyers allege StubHub argued it failed to pay due to “software tracking issues”
Additionally, Spotlight’s legal team argued StubHub’s senior management team “formulated and executed a scheme to provide false and misleading information about Spotlight to Amex, intended to disrupt and ruin the unique, mutually beneficial relationship that had developed between Amex and Spotlight over the years.”
After months of litigation, a 12-person jury delivered a verdict last week, voting in favor of Spotlight on all counts. The jury found that StubHub intentionally interfered with the existing contracts between StubHub and Amex, and Spotlight should be paid all of the commission it was owed, amounting in $16.3 million.
“The Spotlight team could not be more pleased with this result,” Spotlight CEO and co-founder Tony Knopp said in a statement. “This is a victory for Spotlight, for affiliate partners more broadly, and for ticket purchasers across the country, and vindicates Spotlight after years of litigation.”