July 5, 2026 – AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an official investigation into secondary ticket marketplace StubHub following a wave of complaints from soccer fans who had their 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets abruptly canceled just days or hours before kickoff.
The state’s top prosecutor is probing whether the company engaged in deceptive trade practices, specifically a deceptive industry maneuver known as “ghost ticketing” (or speculative ticketing), where sellers list and collect payments for seats they do not actually own.
The Core Accusations: “Ghost Ticketing”
While the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches progress across North America, major logistical frustrations have boiled over for consumers using third-party resale platforms. According to the Attorney General’s office, fans in Texas host cities—including Houston and Dallas—have reported securing high-priced tickets, only to receive sudden cancellation notices right before the events.
- The State’s View: Consumer protection investigators suspect that secondary sellers used StubHub to post speculative inventory. When market prices spiked or sellers failed to secure the physical seats they gambled on, the transactions collapsed, leaving buyers stranded.
- StubHub’s Defense: The resale giant has publicly deflected blame onto FIFA, pointing to technical performance bugs, transfer restrictions, and late infrastructure changes rolled out by the soccer governing body’s proprietary ticketing app.
“In many cases, attending a World Cup match is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “If StubHub is ghost ticketing Texans out of that experience, my office will use every tool available to hold them accountable.”
Background: A Growing War Over World Cup Tickets
The probe into StubHub is not an isolated incident; rather, it marks the latest escalations in a massive regulatory clampdown on the multi-billion-dollar World Cup ticketing ecosystem.
1. The State of Texas vs. FIFA…