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British Columbia’s Attorney General Niki Sharma has announced an investigation into StubHub, the online ticket resale site, over its handling of tickets for the FIFA World Cup.
The announcement comes in the wake of a CBC News investigation that revealed a mass failure by the ticket reseller platform and StubHub’s cancellation of thousands of fan tickets for World Cup matches in Vancouver, Toronto and host cities across North America.
Sharma called reports of people in B.C. purchasing tickets without receiving them “deeply concerning.”
“Major events like the FIFA World Cup 2026 should be an exciting experience and people should not have to worry about whether the tickets they purchased on StubHub will be honoured,” she said.
Though Sharma wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the investigation, she said the province is closely monitoring the situation.
“I understand Consumer Protection B.C., which independently administers B.C.’s Ticket Sales Act, is currently investigating these complaints to see if the law has been broken,” she said.
Mark Gallagher tells CBC News about the frustration of being assured his World Cup tickets would land — only to arrive at B.C. Place in Vancouver empty-handed.
“While I cannot comment on this investigation directly, and StubHub has publicly committed to honouring its refund guarantees to fans, I want people to know they may have options available to them if they have been affected.”
Stubhub has blamed the event organizer FIFA’s ticketing technology for difficulties delivering fans thousands of tickets.
Speculative ticketing
However, industry insiders say professional scalpers have been either cancelling and reselling for bigger profits — or failing to deliver on orders for “speculative tickets.”
Scott Friedman, a 20-year ticketing industry executive in Cleveland and host of the Ticket Talk Network podcast, says StubHub is famous for this practice, not just for the World Cup, but for other events around the world as well.
“It’s that they allow speculative ticketing,” he said. “Basically sellers selling tickets they don’t have.”
The practice, banned in a handful of U.S. states, has been blamed for similar mass cancellation ticket fiascos involving high-profile tours by Oasis and Olivia Rodrigo.
Fans lose out on experience ‘of a lifetime’
Kirat Malik of Vancouver says she had to repurchase tickets to Canada’s match against Qatar on June 18 at B.C. Place directly from FIFA after she says the ones she bought from StubHub were cancelled by the platform.
She says she’s pleased someone is looking into StubHub’s business practices.
“I have spent over 10 hours on the phone with them for tickets I purchased more than six months before the match,” Malik told CBC in an email, adding she was still waiting for a refund.
“StubHub took my money, and my time and still have not refunded us. Also taking away the experience we were supposed to have of a lifetime without any compensation, it’s nonsense.”
CBC News also reached out to Ontario’s attorney general to ask if there is a similar investigation in the province, given that many fans heading to Toronto matches who bought tickets through StubHub also reported tickets cancelled at the last minute.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, which oversees Ontario’s law that prohibits specualtive ticketing, would not confirm an investigation.
“All ticket sellers in Ontario must comply with our legislation,” the spokesperson wrote in an email Friday. “Any seller who breaks those rules could face fines of up to $250,000 and be publicly identified on the consumer beware list. Platforms like StubHub and SeatGeek have been identified as not meeting expectations under Ontario law.”
Ontario has not announced any fines or penalties under the law related to the World Cup.
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