Viagogo, stylized by the company as viagogo, is a multinational ticket exchange and ticket resale brand. It is headquartered in the United States and has been owned by StubHub since 2021. It was founded in London in 2006 by Eric Baker as an online marketplace for consumers to buy and sell tickets to sports, music, theatre and comedy events.
Viagogo is backed by investors such as Index Ventures, Brent Hoberman, Jacob Rothschild, and Bessemer Venture Partners. In February 2020 the company purchased StubHub for $4 billion with the merging process finalized in 2022.
The company has been criticized for inflation via ticket resale, lacking transparency, and in some cases, having sold counterfeit tickets. These controversies have led to legal action in some of the countries where Viagogo operates, and also led the UK Competition & Markets Authority to order changes to Viagogo's operations.
History
2006-2011
Viagogo was founded in 2006 in London as a secondary ticketing marketplace by Eric Baker, the co-founder of US-based StubHub. With sections established to provide an online marketplace for sports, music, theatre and comedy tickets, the company's launch included official partnerships with Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC, with the sports clubs sharing in the commission revenue on ticket resales.
As unauthorized reselling of football tickets was illegal under British law in 2006, Viagogo's official reselling authorizations with Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC marked the first time Premier League tickets were legally resold in the United Kingdom. Manchester United ended its commercial agreement with Viagogo in 2011, also ending official resale of its season tickets in the process.
By 2006 Viagogo was backed by venture capital investment firm Index Ventures as well as Brent Hoberman and Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild. Officially debuting in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2006 as an online ticket exchange designed to bypass physical ticket resale, Viagogo stated it offered users more protection than competitors such as eBay by guaranteeing refunds for tickets that were fake or didn't arrive.
In August 2007, Viagogo branched into Germany partnered with Bayern Munich. With Baker as CEO, Viagogo raised £30 million in August 2007 from investors including Brent Hoberman, Bernard Arnault, Jacob Rothschild, and Index Ventures. Viagogo had local sites in Germany, Holland, and Hammersmith, London by 2008. Viagogo by that January had traded £50 million in tickets overall and signed deals with Warner Music and James Blunt.
In May 2008, Live Nation hired Viagogo as one of its ticket sellers in Europe for Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour. Also in 2008, the French Tennis Federation appointed Viagogo the official ticket marketplace of the French Open. Baker stated the company sold $100 million in tickets in 2008, with the company making 25% of that. By June 2009, new investors included Andre Agassi, bringing total funds raised to $70 million. Viagogo was also an official resale partner of Michael Jackson, Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Group, and the ATP World Tour Finals. According to The Guardian, "a fundraising effort in 2009 valued the company at $300m".
2012-2019
The company liquidated its UK assets in 2012 and moved its headquarters to Switzerland, where its financial accounts are private. The change, which occurred directly before the London Olympic Games, meant Viagogo "was no longer subject to UK laws banning resale of tickets for Olympic events."
Also in 2012, Madonna named Viagogo the "official premium and secondary ticketing partner" for her summer European tour. By then Viagogo had also officially partnered with the promoters of musicians such as Rihanna, Coldplay, Westlife, and Take That. In September 2013, Viagogo launched in Australia. The launch was accompanied by two new partnerships with Melbourne-based AFL clubs Collingwood and Richmond. Between 2013 and 2015 it also partnered with the Sydney Swans and Sydney Roosters.
Viagogo was the official ticket marketplace for the various music festivals in 2013, including the Isle of Wight Festival, the Boyzone 20th Anniversary Tour, the Benicàssim Festival and Weekend Festival. In 2014, Viagogo partnered with SFX Entertainment and in 2015 with the Australian Soundwave festival, and Ultra Beach Bali. In 2016, Viagogo was announced as the official ticketing partner of Ultra Singapore 2016.