IN THE KNOW WITH @STUBHUBJO

At StubHub, it's more than just tickets -- it's about putting your game face (or rocker hair) on and being a fan. My job is a new bag of tricks every day, filled with fans from all walks of life. Stay in the know and get the inside scoop on all things StubHub with me here.

[stubhubjo-blog]

Hotels.com and StubHub Release College Bowl Game Guide

Today’s Blog Post comes courtesy of Shannon J. Barbara, PR coordinator with StubHub, while Jo is out

Back in October, we partnered with Hotels.com to bring you some great deals for NFL fans traveling to away cities. This time we teamed up to find the best value for fans during college bowl season. With bowl games already upon us, most fans know where their favorite teams are playing and are starting to make travel plans. Those that waited might be surprised to realize there are still some great deals available. While the much in-demand tickets to the National Championship Game are definitely not on our “best deals” list, fans can still grab reasonably priced tickets to many of the bowl season’s other marquee matchups – with hotel deals to match.

Here are our top three deals for high quality games:

Bowl Game: Gator Bowl

Host City: Jacksonville, Fla.

Game Day: January 1

Min. StubHub Ticket Price: $2.35

Avg. StubHub Ticket Price: $43

Jacksonville may host the bowl game with the best value, as fans can purchase tickets for as low as $3.50 and lodging along the city’s picturesque riverfront for $150 per night. The Hilton Garden Inn Jacksonville Downtown/Southbank (4.3 Hotels.com guest review rating) is minutes from the riverwalks and has rooms from $142, while the riverfront Omni Jacksonville Hotel (4.5 guest rating) offers rooms from $151 and is right across the street from the Jacksonville Landing shopping and dining center.

Bowl Game: Sugar Bowl

Host City: New Orleans, La.

Game Day: January 2

Min. StubHub Ticket Price: $41

Avg. StubHub Ticket Price: $171

If you want to stay within a half-mile of the action, get a room from $182 at the Holiday Inn New Orleans - Downtown Superdome (4.0 guest rating). The French Quarter also offers many hotel properties centrally located between the stadium and the night life of Bourbon Street, including the Royal Sonesta with rooms from $219 (4.5 guest rating).

Bowl Game: Orange Bowl

Host City: Miami, Fla.

Game Day: January 1

Min. StubHub Ticket Price: $14

Avg. StubHub Ticket Price: $60

While tickets for the big game may be difficult to come by,Miami’s other major bowl game features some of the most affordable prices currently available. Fans seeking the most value need look no further than the Outstanding-rated (4.6) Holiday Inn Express Pembroke Pines-Sheridan Street, which offers rooms from $135 and is within eight miles of the stadium. Those wanting to be in the middle of entertainment and nightlife options can check out theSeminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for rooms from $399 (4.4 guest rating), which is located seven miles from the stadium in Davie, Fla.

Hope everyone enjoys the college football bowl season! It’s been a pleasure stepping in and guest blogging for these past few months, Jo will return in 2013. Happy Holidays everyone!  

[stubhubjo-blog]

StubHub and Fans Raise $1 Million for Sandy Relief

Most of you probably watched the 12.12.12 Sandy Relief Concert last week, which took place at Madison Square Garden featuring some of the biggest names in music. Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen were just some of the headline artists that rocked the stage for an important cause – encouraging fans to donate funds to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy. From Red Hook to Coney Island to the Rockaways, millions were affected by Sandy, and we were proud to be among the supporters of the Robin Hood Foundation’s relief efforts.

  As we announced last month, all revenues from 12.12.12 tickets purchased on StubHub were donated to the Robin Hood Foundation. We are proud to share that we raised $1 million for the relief effort. Chris Tsakalakis, the president of StubHub, joined Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell on CBS This Morning last week to talk about the concert. Check out the clip here: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136891n.

We want to thank everyone who donated to this cause!

[stubhubjo-blog]

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StubHub Announces Renewal of MLB Partnership

Today’s guest blogger is Shannon Barbara, who is filling in for Jo while she’s out 

You may have heard this already, but I have exciting news to report: we have renewed our agreement with Major League Baseball for five more years! This means that we will continue to be the Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace for all MLB and the best place to shop when looking for baseball tickets through 2017.

We first partnered with MLB back in 2007, and at the time it was the first league-wide agreement we’d entered into. We’ve learned a lot over the last five years of the partnership, and we look forward to seeing where the next five years take us. But, most importantly, we are excited to continue providing a safe, reliable, convenient ticket marketplace for fans, and to introducing other innovative technology that will make their experience even better.

I personally can’t wait for the new season to start! Jo will hate me for this, but go Giants!

For more information on our announcement, you can read the full press release here.

[stubhubjo-blog]

Heisman Trophy Preview: Will Johnny Football Take College Football’s Biggest Award?

This Saturday, the most prestigious award of the college football season will be awarded to one of three players: Kansas State QB Collin Klein, Notre Dame LB Manti Te’o, and Texas A&M’s freshman phenom, QB Johnny Manziel. Normally there are upwards to five Heisman Trophy finalists, but this year, there are only three. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of intrigue surrounding who will take home the prize.

Collin Klein, the relatively unheralded quarterback for Bill Snyder’s resurgent Wildcats, is coming off an incredible year. Kansas State went undefeated for most of the season and finished with an impressive 11-1 record. While not projected to be a top pick at the NFL level, Klein had been winning games with his unorthodox throwing style and impressive toughness. Sound familiar? He’s been sparking throwback images to a similar former Heisman winner, Tim Tebow. He’s also devoutly religious and didn’t kiss his wife until his wedding day!

I learned a lot about Klein in this great profile of him after he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately for Klein, after this issue ran, the infamous SI jinx got him. The Wildcats lost their next game and dropped from the No. 1 ranking at Baylor. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx his Heisman chances!

Kansas State’s bowl game will be in the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon. If you’re interested in great team offense and excitement, this might be the game for you.

Johnny Manziel, also known as “Johnny Football,” is the freshman sensation for the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies, who joined the vaunted SEC for the first time this season, put together an impressive campaign that almost no one predicted. Most of that success can be attributed to their signal caller. Much like Klein, Manziel flew under the radar most of the year before his epic, signature win against the then No. 1 team in the country, Alabama. Manziel will be striving to become the first freshman to win the award and the first Aggie to win since John David Crow won in 1957. This Houston Chronicle profile explains what it means to Texas A&M football and Manziel if he pulls off the historic night.

Texas A&M will finish the season in arguably the best non-BCS bowl game of the entire slate: squaring off against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

The sentimental favorite is the one neck and neck with Manziel, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o. The emotional core of the Irish defense has been the catalyst for the best season in Notre Dame’s history since the 1980s. Returning the Irish to prominence after decades of mediocrity hasn’t been easy, especially after the tragedy that befell the linebacker back in September. Ahead of the game against Michigan State, Te’o’s grandmother and long-time girlfriend passed away on back-to-back days. Despite dealing with the grief, Te’o had a spectacular game. He then went on to have a few more, leading Notre Dame to their first undefeated season in many years. Greg Couch of Fox Sports wrote an incredible piece on Te’o’s impact on a Notre Dame family grieving over the death of their daughter. It will bring you to tears.

While I don’t have a horse in the race, it’s hard for me not to pull for Te’o. Even if Manti doesn’t beat Johnny Football for the Heisman, he has bigger fish to fry down in Miami. Notre Dame will be playing SEC- and defending National Champion, Alabama on January 9 for the title. If you’re interested in going, be prepared to pay a pretty penny! 

[stubhubjo-blog]

‘Tis the season for Holiday Classics on StubHub

The holiday season is in full swing, and here at StubHub, we know what that means: it’s time to start thinking about gift ideas and where you could take your family and friends that are visiting from out of town.

If the above description fits you – you’re in luck because we have great ideas that won’t break the bank. For example, if you’re in New York City, Nashville, Texas or Illinois, grab tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. We’re seeing tickets go for as little as $16, so you might want to jump on this deal fast!

         The Nokia Theater in Los Angeles is once again home to KIIS FM’s annual Jingle Ball 2012. For the first time, there are two nights, two shows and two different lineups. Tickets for this holiday concert extravaganza are starting at $67 on StubHub. Additionally, Donny and Marie Osmond are bringing their “Christmas in Los Angeles” show to the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. If you and your family are in the LA-area in December, consider picking up tickets to this show, as tickets are starting at $42, depending on which day you choose. 

For more great deals on holiday classics, be sure to check out StubHub. Happy holidays, everyone!

[stubhubjo-blog]

StubHub Donating All Profits from Secondary Ticket Sales for “12.12.12” The Concert for Sandy Relief

Today’s guest blog comes courtesy of Shannon J. Barbara, public relations coordinator, while Joellen is out.

Come Monday morning, one of the hottest tickets in New York City will be to attend “12.12.12” The Concert for Sandy Relief. With all profits from each ticket going to the Robin Hood Foundation to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy, on Dec. 12 Madison Square Garden will be packed with big-hearted, charitable fans.  Given the important cause and amazing lineup, featuring Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Roger Waters, Alicia Keys, The Who and Billy Joel, it’ll probably sell out in minutes.

As a secondary ticket site, we at StubHub will inevitably see tickets posted on our site shortly after Monday’s on-sale. However, rather than remove these listings, we see this as an opportunity to make sure that profits from these tickets go where they were initially intended: to the Sandy relief effort. That’s why we’ll be donating 100% of all profits from the ticket sales to the Robin Hood Foundation.

We’re also making it easy for sellers to donate funds from tickets sold to one of several nonprofit organizations leading Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, including the Robin Hood Relief Fund as well as the American Red Cross, Save the Children, the Humane Society of the United States and the Salvation Army.

If you won’t be in New York City, or are unable to attend the concert, you can still help those in the tri-state area. Donations can be made to the Robin Hood Relief Fund by visiting www.robinhood.org/rhsandy. 

[stubhubjo-blog]

Notre Dame Goes to Miami, but Ohio State Wins Our Poll

Today’s guest blog comes courtesy of Shannon J. Barbara, public relations coordinator, while Joellen is out.

 Week Thirteen

Congratulations to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish! Their victory over USC on Saturday placed the Irish in their first ever BCS National Championship Game and provided the legendary squad from South Bend, Indiana their first chance at a National Title since 1988. If we were ranking most popular games for the rest of the season, Irish fans searching frantically for BCS National Championship Game tickets in Miami would dwarf any other search we have ongoing!

But alas, there is still one matter left to be decided: their opponent. The SEC Championship game between Alabama and Georgia at the Georgia Dome is serving as the defacto National Semifinal and is also garnering high demand. But since it’s a neutral site game, it won’t appear on our rankings. Just know that these two games are outpacing anything else we’re seeing in college football.

Thanksgiving weekend proved to be a white-knuckle thrill ride! From The Big Game in the Horseshoe to the Sunshine Showdown in Tallahassee, rivalry games took center stage as the college football regular season draws to a close. Topping our chart are the Ohio State Buckeyes. They were a staple on the Top 25 all year long and their undefeated season will go down in history as a great “What if?” Regardless, fans turned out in droves to see their Buckeyes defeat ‘That School Up North’ as their game was well ahead of Florida State’s rivalry game against Florida in page views.

The Seminoles lost to the Gators, but interest in this matchup was sky high. Not all is lost for the Seminoles, however, as they qualified for the ACC Championship Game and will travel to Charlotte to take on Georgia Tech next weekend. Clemson came in third and was the last school to rank over 100,000 page views for the week. They also lost a heartbreaker to in-state rival South Carolina but should find themselves in a great bowl game for an impressive season.

Rounding out the Top 5 were Texas and UCLA. The Longhorns hosted TCU on Thanksgiving Night and the Bruins welcomed the Cardinal to the Rose Bowl in what became a Pac-12 Championship Preview. Neither of those teams were victorious and goes to show that StubHub Top 25 success doesn’t always translate to on-field glory.

Next week, stay tuned as we’ll compile the stats for the entire season and provide our overall Top 25 list. If you’ve been following our charts all year long, you probably have a good idea already which teams will rank high. For the full list of this week’s rankings, check it out at: www.stubhubtop25.com.

[stubhubjo-blog]

Suddenly Hot Bruins Become Hot Ticket

Today’s guest blog comes courtesy of Shannon J. Barbara, public relations coordinator, while Joellen is out.

Week Twelve

That didn’t take long! In their first week of being ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectfully, the Kansas State Wildcats and Oregon Ducks both dropped pivotal games over the weekend, essentially putting the nail in their National Championship coffins. As a result, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame sit atop the BCS rankings for the first time ever and make their long awaited return to No. 1 in the AP poll in nearly 20 years (last time was 1993). All that stands in their way is a trip to Los Angeles and a matchup with the suddenly vulnerable USC Trojans. And a week after getting upset in Tuscaloosa, it’s the Alabama Crimson Tide who reclaim their second life at a title. With Thanksgiving coming up, that means it’s time for multiple classic college rivalries, and those matchups highlight our StubHub Top 25 college football rankings.

For fans of the UCLA Bruins, the past decade has been marred by mediocre football and apathy. Tickets to the Rose Bowl to see the UCLA football team were easy to get and in high supply. However, it seems like the winds of change are swirling around Westwood. The team is 9-2 this year and just dispatched their chief rival, USC, in thrilling fashion last weekend. As a result, their game with the surprising Pac-12 North leading Stanford Cardinal is at the top of the StubHub Top 25 this week in searches. With many rivalry games coming up, it’s surprising to see this team take the top spot. Securing the second and third slots respectfully are the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines.

Despite their postseason ban, don’t think Buckeye fans aren’t itching at the chance to finish their season undefeated in The Big Game against Michigan. They host the Wolverines on Saturday and fans of both teams are clamoring for tickets. New to the Top 5 are the Clemson Tigers. After losing early in the season to Florida State, they’ve rattled off seven straight wins and host in-state rival South Carolina this weekend. Georgia rounds out the Top 5, and thanks to losses by Kansas State and Oregon last weekend, the Bulldogs have a renewed sense of National Championship hopes and will look to keep the season on track when they take on arch-nemesis Georgia Tech.

For the full list and rankings, check out this week’s list: www.stubhubtop25.com.

[stubhubjo-blog]

The Search Continues for Ultimate Fans...

Today's guest blogger is Jackie Tincher from the StubHub Social Team.  Any questions? [email protected]

A few months ago, we introduced you to our Ultimate Fan Contest on our Facebook Page. It’s our first User Generated Contest to celebrate fans just for being FANS, in unique and fun ways! This month we are looking for the Ultimate Fan Look-Alike! Some of the submissions we’ve received so far are very rad and spot on! 

Among some of the entries so far include a Forrest Gump (aka Tom Hanks) a Ke$ha, the Most Interesting Man in the World, a Gene Simmons, a Marilyn and a Buddy the Elf. 

As you can see people are into it and it’s a ton of fun. Some of the past winners include the Ultimate Festival Fan, Jeff Hodak who won by seeing 87 performances in 5 days.

 Ultimate Fan Pet, Yogi Berra won in part because of a cross country road trip, when he traveled from Brooklyn to Oakland to watch his beloved Yankees.  He’s also got a custom #8 jersey and a twitter handle @YankeePup

  Our most recent winner was Johnny Volk whose Ultimate Fan Date was a road trip from San Diego to Candlestick where his beloved Bolts were routed by the 49ers, 35-3.  The loss didn’t diminish the date or his love of his Chargers. 

To check out more entries and winners, visit the Ultimate Fan Page on our Facebook page. http://on.fb.me/S3gHo4  It’s fun in there and encourage your family, friends and & Facebook homies to enter! They could win $500 StubHub Gift Code!  

[stubhubjo-blog]

Battle of L.A. Looms Over College Landscape

Week Eleven

Today’s guest blog comes courtesy of Shannon J. Barbara, public relations coordinator, while Joellen is out.

What a wild weekend! After weeks of dominating performances, the Alabama Crimson Tide finally fell for the first time all year. Their defeat opened the door for Kansas State, a longtime Big 12 cellar dweller to reign supreme atop all of college football. Despite those games with National Title implications, it’s a classic cross-town rivalry that’s still showing its mettle in the StubHub Top 25 college football rankings. As we near the end of the season, it’s time for various college rivalries to take the stage and we’ll expect the fun and fan demand to increase throughout the month.

While a 7-3 record would be greeted with cheers at many programs across the country, it registers as a down year for the USC Trojans. The preseason No. 1 team came into 2012 with lofty expectations and for the most part, have failed to live up to them. Despite all that, Trojans fans continue to support their team as they top our college football rankings for the second week in a row. Last week was USC’s homecoming and a relatively easy win over Arizona State, but the real fan activity surrounds their yearly cross-town showdown with the suddenly competitive UCLA Bruins. Since access to the Rose Bowl is easy for both Trojans and Bruins fans, both teams rank in our top five with more than 100,000 page views a piece. As most of the major college football programs will be playing down competition this week, I expect both these teams to top our rankings next week as well. Michigan takes second in our standings again as they host Iowa this week after a thrilling comeback win over Northwestern last Saturday, and Texas is third as they welcome new in-state rival TCU to town. As for the former AP No. 1 school, Alabama, they are ranked fifth this week on our chart largely because of their fateful matchup with Texas A&M. Their schedule softens this week with Western Carolina before finishing up with the Iron Bowl against Auburn. It’s interesting to note that the new top two schools in the BCS, Kansas State and Oregon rank 22nd and 19th on our list respectively. We’ll see if those smaller fan bases turn up the intensity in their search for tickets these coming weeks with so much on the line.

For the full list and rankings, check out this week’s list: www.stubhubtop25.com.

[stubhubjo-blog]

Tweet Ya In Six Weeks (and a small sampling of @eBay @AEGworldwide partnership coverage)!

Tweet Ya in Six Weeks? What does that mean? 

As most of you all know, StubHub is an eBay company, and every five years, eBay employees are eligible for a sabbatical. So tomorrow, I'm going off the grid for six weeks and will be back in action after the holidays (12/26/12). In the meantime, my colleague, Shannon J. Barbara will be manning this blog and occasionally tweeting on my behalf. 

I must say, that I'm taking off on a pretty high note. Those of you that have been keeping up, may have seen in the news yesterday that we're a big piece of an eBay Inc/AEG partnership that will continue to expand and evolve over the years. We've gotten quite the flurry of news coverage, here are a few good ones I'll shamelessly plug:

Billboard: AEG, StubHub Partnership Brings Benefits Far Beyond Secondary Ticketing

San Francisco Chronicle: StubHub teams with AEG on ticket sales

Variety: AEG Pacts with StubHub

Pollstar: AEG and eBay Announce Partnership 

Have a Happy Holidays everyone and I'll catch you all soon!

[stubhubjo-blog]

StubHub scores new sports and ticketing partners through groundbreaking eBay and AEG partnership

As you may have heard, our parent company, eBay, just announced a groundbreaking partnership with entertainment company AEG, designed to enhance the fan experience. As an eBay company, StubHub is leading the way with AEG integrations and we couldn’t be more excited!

First, we will become the exclusive secondary ticketing partner for AEG’s ticketing solution, AXS.com, featuring our barcode cancel/re-issue solution for seamless transfer of tickets between buyers and sellers. We’re also becoming the Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace for more than 30 AEG facilities worldwide. 

We’ve also got great news for fans in Los Angeles. We’ve secured our first MLS partnership as the Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace of the LA Galaxy starting in the 2013 MLS season, and we’ll become the Official Fan to Fan Ticket Marketplace of the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings starting with the 2013-14 NHL season. Plus, early next year we’ll become one of 12 Founding Partners for LA Live/Staples Center, giving StubHub Rewards members an opportunity to experience the Staples Center in a whole new way – with seat upgrades, behind-the-scenes tours, Hyde access and Lexus Club access.

What does all of this mean for our fans? More choices when it comes to attending events at AEG venues and with our newest team partners. This will all start rolling out early next year, but it’s just the beginning. Stay tuned because we expect over time the eBay and AEG partnership will provide more opportunities for StubHub to make the event experience even better for fans.

Check out the official press release: eBay Inc. and AEG Announce Industry-Leading Global Partnership Across Multiple Platforms

[stubhubjo-blog]

HOOISERS: Indiana Basketball Tops Our First Survey of College Basketball Fan Demand

It seems like only yesterday we were crowning the Kentucky Wildcats as the champions of college basketball. Since last April, college basketball teams across the nation have undergone massive changes, from losing their entire team (Kentucky), getting a brand-new remodeled arena (UCLA), or adding a few cosmetic pieces to prime themselves for a return to prominence (Indiana). As quickly as last season came and went, a new season is already upon us and StubHub has decided to look into fan demand to see which teams are the most popular heading into the 2012-13 college basketball season. As the data shows, we have few surprises – traditional college basketball hotbeds are excited to get back to the hardwood.

Basketball’s Heartland is Back on Top

It’s been a long time coming for the Indiana Hoosiers. Tom Crean brings his Indiana squad into the season as the top ranked team in the nation, a far cry from 6-25 season they endured in 2008-09. While this season is wide open from a national title perspective, Indiana returns an impressive team that took Kentucky to the brink in last year’s tournament. Headlining the Hoosiers is their 7-foot tall center and the preseason All-American, Cody Zeller, who is primed to rack up Player of the Year honors when it’s all said and done. Fan demand and excitement in Bloomington is unmatched and they top our page views chart by a significant margin. Since the season ended last April, they have racked up more than 300,000 page views for tickets, making Hoosiers tickets in short supply. If they get off to a fast start, Indiana basketball fans will be flocking to Assembly Hall in huge numbers to see if their team can win their first title since 1987.

As For The Champs….

Photo by Jonathan Palmer TEAMCOYLE — Herald-Leader

Don’t sleep on Kentucky. As unsexy as it is to pick the defending National Champion to repeat, the Wildcats have as good a chance as any to return to the Final Four in Atlanta. Kentucky is second on our list in fan demand and have more than 250,000 page views since they cut down the nets last season. For most teams, losing all five of their starters and their sixth man would mean a long season of rebuilding, but for coach John Calipari, it’s all a part of his system. He’s brought in another monster recruiting class, led by the number one recruit in the nation, a 6’10” center from Massachusetts, Nerlens Noel. Despite having an awesome name, he’ll also probably bring back memories of last year’s freshman darling, Anthony Davis. In a down year for SEC basketball, I fully expect Kentucky to be one of the top teams by season’s end.

Anyone Else in The Field?

The next teams on our list are the usual suspects of college basketball royalty. Kansas, Syracuse and Louisville are always some of the most popular teams across the country and that is no different ahead of this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of those teams topped the charts at some point in the season. The Jayhawks, Orangemen and Cardinals were all hovering between 125,000 – 175,000 page views during the offseason.

Somewhat of a surprise team in our list is the UCLA Bruins. UCLA, in a combination of having a relatively down year in 2011-12 and being forced to play their home games across town at the L.A. Sports Arena, were nowhere near the top 10 in StubHub’s fan demand charts. It’s funny what a brand new arena and top recruiting class will do. Tonight, UCLA christens the newly remodeled Pauley Pavilion and debuts their stable of top recruits, ranked near the top nationally depending on who you ask. Whether or not UCLA will turn it around this season remains to be seen, but the hot new arena is garnering a lot of attention and page views in Westwood.

Photo by Hans Gutknecht

I’m excited to see how this season plays out. As I mentioned earlier, the race for the National Title is anyone’s game and I wouldn’t be surprised if a team I didn’t mention came out of nowhere to win the crown. We’ll continue to monitor the fan demand chart throughout the season, although probably not on a weekly basis like college football. In case anyone is curious, here are the stats for the Top 10 teams in page views during the entire offseason. It’s essentially Indiana and Kentucky and then the rest of the teams. Let’s see what this season has in store! 

1.

Indiana Hoosiers Basketball Tickets

307,890

2.

Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Tickets

262,842

3.

Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Tickets

162,079

4.

Syracuse Orange Basketball Tickets

149,360

5.

Louisville Cardinals Basketball Tickets

116,435

6.

UCLA Bruins Basketball Tickets

106,470

7.

Michigan Wolverinse Basketball Tickets

102,344

8.

Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball Tickets

89,573

9.

Duke Blue Devils Basketball Tickets

67,154

10.

North Carolina State Wolfpack Basketball Tickets

41,816

[stubhubjo-blog]

Discover @StubHub: Find Your Perfect Gift @TheGrove in Los Angeles

There's never a lack of live entertainment excitement in and around Los Angeles -- the Lakers and Clippers are well underway, our long-time partner USC is hosting two more games this season, Book of Mormon at the Pantages Theatre, the list goes on. And hey, I can't help but smile seeing that one of my old school favorites, Naughty By Nature, will be at the House of Blues in Anaheim on Thursday.

That all being said, we all have our own loyalties and with the holidays right around the corner, we've set up shop at The Grove in Los Angeles to help fans find that perfect gift. Our crew will be on-site by the Christmas Tree through the remainder of the year, and they can help you choose the perfect seats to the Rose Bowl, Lady Gaga at Staples, or set you up with gift card, wrapped up and ready to go. Check out a couple snapshots of our digs:

This is the first time we've done something like this and we're excited to be out there to help fans discover StubHub. Come on out and check it out!

[stubhubjo-blog]

USC Outpaces LSU in Showdown of Monster Match-ups

Week Ten

As we get nearer to the end of the college football season, we’re going to take a moment and admire the thrilling week of action we witnessed this past weekend. The sheer force of the various primetime games led to heart-racing evening in my household. From the battles in SEC country to the high wired acts of the Pac-12. and the answered prayers of Touchdown Jesus, all the games featured tense and exciting moments. These major matchups also turned in extremely impressive page views over the past week and forecast what will be an exhilarating race to the finish between the top four BCS teams.

Last weekend saw two games that practically served as de-facto semifinals for the national BCS picture when LSU played host to Alabama and USC welcomed the Oregon Ducks. While the road teams in each contest pulled out thrilling victories, it was the home teams that went mano-a-mano on our weekly page view scorecard. After all the dust was settled, the USC Trojans had more page views over LSU on our site by a landslide. To be fair, that advantage could probably be attributed to the fact that there were far fewer Alabama-LSU tickets on the market and their prices were out of reach for many fans, but the Oregon-USC game still proved to be extremely popular among the college football landscape. Ohio State, who currently hold the quietest 10-0 in CFB history thanks to their disqualification for postseason play, still manage to recruit an impressive fan following and took third on our chart. The Georgia Bulldogs, now in the driver’s seat for the SEC East crown, took fourth ahead of their game against Ole Miss, and it was Notre Dame, who provided quite a scare for all their fans with their triple overtime win over Pitt, slotted in fifth.

For the full list and rankings, check out this week’s list: www.stubhubtop25.com.

[stubhubjo-blog]

Analyzing Changes in NBA Fan Demand

What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time we were in the midst of an NBA lockout and a season that appeared very much in jeopardy. This year, we have a much different story. The NBA experienced great momentum coming off an exciting NBA Finals which saw the Miami Heat win their first title in the LeBron James era, a thrilling draft where New Orleans landed top pick Anthony Davis, a monumental free agency period that had the Lakers grabbing a Hall of Fame point guard and teams swapping the two best centers in the league, and an entire franchise pack its bags and move to a town that hasn’t seen professional sports since 1957.

The brand new 2012-13 NBA season kicks off this week and StubHub decided to take a look at the data and see how fan demand has changed from the beginning of the 2011-12 NBA Season. Measuring page views for each team’s games from one week prior to each season, we’re able to compare and contrast how fan patterns have changed based on moves made in the offseason. Several trends pop out in the numbers, some surprising and some not-so surprising. We’ll take a look at the biggest movers and shakers ahead of the upcoming season.

Josh Haner/The New York Times

New Building, New City, New Team

Arguably the biggest change during the offseason didn’t involve player movement; it involved team movement. The Nets, longtime tenants of New Jersey, moved to the borough of Brooklyn and appear to be emerging from the Knicks’ shadow. TheBrooklyn Nets are currently set to tip off in the new Barclays Center on Saturday against the Raptors, showing signs of NYC’s biggest borough getting back to business as usual after the passing of Sandy.

While this week brought extenuating circumstances to Nets fans, just a week ago it was clear that interest for Nets tickets on our site had skyrocketed compared to last year. Page views, which hovered a little over 100,000 the week before 2011’s home opener, shot up close to 700,000 last week. An increase of 468% percent! While some of this demand can be attributed to keeping Deron Williams and acquiring Joe Johnson, it’s apparent that the Barclays Center is the hot new attraction in New York. The question throughout the season will be how demand fluctuates if the Nets don’t get off to a fast start.  

The Trade That Shocked The League

If you lived in Los Angeles, Orlando, Denver or Philadelphia, you remember where you were on August 11, 2012. That Friday, those four teams entered into a massive off-season deal that dramatically altered the course of the 2012-13 season and finally ended the Dwight Howard saga. The Lakers received the big man from Orlando, and the Magic got Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, and several other players from each team in return. The 76ers walked away with a large prize in former Lakers’ big man Andrew Bynum and the Nuggets scored former U.S. Olympic team member Andre Iguodala.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/US Presswire

Who walked away with the biggest momentum swing? The Sixers! Philadelphia saw their fan demand increase by 280%. While some credit can be given to the Andrew Bynum acquisition, it’s also due in part to miniscule demand ahead of last year and a successful playoff run to close out the 2011-12 season where they pushed the Boston Celtics to the brink in the second round. For the Lakers, the effects of the trade were obvious. Even though they were the fourth most popular team on our chart last year, they increased their overall page views by 147%. The Nuggets have also seen a 101% demand increase as well.

As for the Magic, well, their overall page views still grew compared to last year. However, every team’s page views grew, and the Magic’s only increased by a paltry 31%. The rebuilding effort in Orlando is officially underway.

NBA Draft

The NBA Draft always provides a sense of hope for struggling teams dreaming of the opportunity to grab the next franchise defining star like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, or even LeBron James. For the teams drafting in the top three this year, (Hornets, Bobcats and Wizards) it appears that their fan base hasn’t been overwhelmingly galvanized to look at tickets following their teams’ selections.

The Hornets, which drafted Kentucky center Anthony Davis with the number one pick, saw a 72% increase in page views year-over-year. Despite the rise in numbers, it still places them 29th overall on our table, but their 30,000 page views trump the 17,000 they received ahead of last year. The Bobcats are fairing a little better. Their selection of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist lead to a 88% increase and page views up to the 60,000s. The Wizards, which took Florida shooter, Bradley Beal, only improved by 34%, but with the franchise located in the larger market of Washington D.C., they have around 90,000 page views, trumping the other two teams.

Surprisingly, the Raptors and Pistons were the two teams drafting in the Top 10 that came out smelling like roses. They saw increases of 110% and 112%,respectively. Some of that demand might be due to outside factors, but Terrence Ross (Raptors) and Andre Drummond (Pistons) look to be joining teams on the rise.

We put together a handy infograph to see where your team stacks up relative to their draft slot.

We’ll continue to track NBA fan demand throughout the season, as all the teams look to chase the Heat for that elusive championship. As for the Champs, they saw their demand increase 156% and I expect as long as they have LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh, they’ll remain one of the most popular teams in the league.