The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has granted viagogo permission to reacquire StubHub trademarks and domain names in 22 territories outside the UK and Europe, ending a small but symbolic piece of the breakup imposed when the two resale giants merged in 2020. The regulator granted the company petition to re-establishe the StubHub name in those markets, as it found it would not significantly impact the ability of StubHub International to compete in the main market that concerns it – the UK.
StubHub International will continue to operate under that branding in the UK and other EU markets, where viagogo also operates.
What the CMA order allows
The CMA’s consent covers only intellectual-property assets: national StubHub trademarks—both registered and unregistered—and the matching web domains for those twenty-two “rest-of-world” countries. No customer data, transaction history, platform code, marketing services or other operational assets are changing hands, and the deal does not lift the long-standing ban on relaunching the original StubHub mobile app outside North America. Instead, viagogo intends to publish a brand-new StubHub-branded app in the Apple and Google stores that will be available solely in those twenty-two markets and deliberately excluded from the UK and the European Union.
Why the CMA said yes
In approving the request, the CMA concluded that the territories involved generate only a de minimis share of revenue for StubHub International and that surrendering dormant brand rights would have virtually no impact on the company’s ability to compete in the UK. The regulator also noted that the automatic redirect system—which funnels any UK event traffic arriving on StubHub’s North-American site back to the UK site—remains intact, and the ten-year licence allowing StubHub International to trade under the brand within the UK is unchanged.
During a public consultation that ran from 9 May to 27 May, only one submission opposed the deal, arguing that future legislative changes such as a potential resale-price cap might complicate matters; the CMA dismissed those concerns as outside the scope of this narrow remedy review.
Flashback: how we got here
When viagogo agreed to buy StubHub from eBay for roughly $4 billion in early 2020, the CMA blocked the transaction until viagogo divested StubHub’s entire business outside North America. That divestiture was completed in September 2021, when Massachusetts-based Digital Fuel Capital acquired what became “StubHub International.”
What changes for fans and sellers?
For fans in Latin America and Asia-Pacific, the StubHub name is likely to return to viagogo-operated storefronts and apps, creating a cleaner global brand map. Inside the UK nothing changes: StubHub International continues to run its local platform and keep the brand licence at least until 2031. Meanwhile, the CMA reminded market participants that it retains full merger-control powers and could open a fresh inquiry if viagogo attempts to reacquire any additional StubHub assets in the future.
By carving out unused brand rights in distant markets, viagogo tidies up its global branding without weakening the firewall that keeps StubHub International independent in the UK. British ticket buyers therefore continue to benefit from competition between two major uncapped resale platforms—just under slightly clearer names abroad.
List of Markets Approved by the CMA’s Order:
- Argentina
- Belarus
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- New Zealand
- Peru
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
