Red Sox, Yankees Ticket Changes Take Aim At StubHub, Secondary Market For MLB Tickets

The Boston Red Sox are set to launch their own online resale ticket website, opting out of a deal with popular platform Stubhub. According to SportsBusiness Daily, the new endeavor partners MLB Advanced Media with Tickets.com and is aimed at lowering fees while delivering all tickets electronically to avoid printing and shipping.

"StubHub was and is a great partner for the industry, but we are interested in exploring something controlled by us," Sam Kennedy, president of the Boston Red Sox, told Eric Fisher of SportsBusiness Journal.

Fisher reported that the site, called Red Sox Replay, will start with a price floor of 30 percent of the ticket's face value but that there could be "experimentation" throughout next season. The marketplace is scheduled for a March 1 launch. The move, Fisher commented on Twitter, represents "a big shift in strategy for one of MLB’s most popular and heavily attended clubs." Boston finished seventh last year in total attendance at Fenway Park, a stadium with a capacity of roughly 37,000. The Red Sox also had the third-highest attendance by percentage, despite finishing last in the American League East.

The Red Sox indicated on their website that seller fees would be lower than other marketplaces and buyer fees would be comparable to other sites. The team also said Red Sox season-ticket holders would receive incentives for using Red Sox Replay — such as reward points or the option to donate their tickets to the Red Sox Foundation — which the team hopes will bring good seats to the site.

Meanwhile, the New York Yankees, Boston's top rival, also announced a change to their ticket policy on Tuesday, which eliminates the option of printing at home.

"Print-at-home paper tickets (PDFs) are being discontinued so as to further combat fraud and counterfeiting of tickets associated with print-at-home paper tickets (PDFs)," the Yankees said on their website. "In addition to traditional hard stock paper tickets, the Yankees will be offering the opportunity for fans to receive mobile tickets on a fan's Smartphone."

The move from the Yankees could be potentially damaging to Stubhub since purchases made on the platform are often delivered to buyers that print their tickets at home.