Ticket marketplace Vivid Seats (NASDAQ: SEAT) reported sharp year-over-year declines in sales and gross order value for the second quarter and unveiled a $25 million cost-cutting program it says will “right-size” the business for an unpredictable live-events market.
The Chicago-based company said marketplace gross order value (GOV) fell 31 percent to $685.5 million in the three months ended June 30, while revenue dropped 28 percent to $143.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA slid 68 percent to $14.4 million. Vivid Seats posted a net loss of $263.3 million, compared with a $1.2 million loss a year earlier, reflecting impairment charges tied to its 2022 acquisition of fantasy app GameChanger and other non-cash items.
“We continued to navigate a challenging industry backdrop in the second quarter as we saw pressure on consumer spending coupled with continued competitive intensity in performance-marketing channels,” chief executive Stan Chia told investors on Tuesday. “While near-term growth is under pressure, we continue to view live events as an attractive long-term opportunity with durable supply and demand tailwinds.”
$25 million belt-tightening
Management said it has already identified $25 million in annualized savings that will be implemented by the end of 2025. The reductions will include head-count realignment, vendor renegotiations and other operating efficiencies. “This program will both right-size the organization for the current environment and drive enhanced long-term efficiency to ensure Vivid Seats can offer a leading value proposition to fans and sellers,” Chia said.
Chief financial officer Lawrence Fey added that a portion of the savings will be redeployed “across key levers to stabilize top-line performance as we look to 2026 and beyond.” Fey said the company expects positive free cash flow in the third quarter thanks to seasonal improvements and a belief that June’s industry-wide demand dip was an anomaly.
Metrics paint a mixed picture
| Metric (Q2) | 2025 | 2024 | % Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace GOV | $685.5 M | $998.1 M | –31% |
| Revenue | $143.6 M | $198.3 M | –28% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $14.4 M | $44.2 M | –68% |
| Marketplace orders | 2.17 M | 3.10 M | –30% |
Event cancellations clipped GOV by $20.3 million in the quarter, marginally less than the $21.2 million impact a year earlier. Marketplace orders slid 30 percent to 2.17 million, while resale orders were essentially flat at 97,000.
Citing the uncertain demand picture, Vivid Seats withdrew its full-year 2025 outlook. The company had forecast low-double-digit GOV growth and adjusted EBITDA in the $95-$105 million range when it reported first-quarter results in May.
Reverse split now in effect
Tuesday’s earnings update comes a day after Vivid Seats announced a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of its Class A and Class B shares, aimed at lifting its share price and broadening institutional ownership. The stock begins trading on a split-adjusted basis Wednesday under the same Nasdaq ticker, SEAT.
Bigger picture
Vivid Seats faces mounting competition for paid search and other performance-marketing channels as rivals such as SeatGeek, StubHub and Ticketmaster’s resale platform spend aggressively on customer acquisition. At the same time, consumer discretionary spending on concerts and sports has moderated after a post-pandemic boom in 2023–24.
Despite the near-term headwinds, Chia insisted that “live events remain a resilient and emotionally compelling category,” and that the company’s cash balance of roughly $320 million and asset-light model position it to capitalize on demand when it rebounds.
With the cost-reduction plan under way and no guidance on the table, investors will look to the second half of the year for signs that Vivid Seats can stabilize revenue and regain marketplace share without sacrificing margins.
