Tout lists £1m of U2 tickets on StubHub as bot clampdown stalls

A single tout is advertising more than £1m worth of tickets for U2's 2027 tour on StubHub, just days after the band's London dates sold out. The listings raise direct questions about the resale site's own condemnation of traders who use "bot" software (automated programs that buy tickets faster than humans) to scoop up inventory before fans can.

The seller, Vladyslav Skrypka, says he is based in Harlow, Essex. He has listed more than 1,800 tickets for one night alone of U2's four-date run at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, according to the Guardian, with some seats priced at more than four times face value. If every ticket sold at the listed prices, Skrypka would clear over £1m.

The four London nights of The Greatest Show on Earth tour sold out last week, shortly after going on sale. Strict purchase limits applied per buyer — yet StubHub currently shows 7,819 U2 tickets listed for resale. More than 2,000 belong to Skrypka, and thousands more sit with other professional "traders" (an industry term for touts who sell more than 100 tickets a year). Only 562 listings come from private sellers — fans offloading spares or tickets they can no longer use.

What does this change for fans and for the law?

Right now, not much — and that's the story. Bot use has been illegal in the UK since 2018, and "speculative selling" (where a tout takes a buyer's money first, then tries to source the tickets afterwards) is unlawful too. But enforcement lags. A ticket tout ban bill, which would outlaw resale for profit entirely, is due to be published during the current parliamentary session — a session that might not end until well into 2027, after U2's tour is underway.

The bill traces back to a pledge culture secretary Lisa Nandy made a year ago, when she promised to "shut down the touts' racket". Artists and music industry figures are now pressing her to move faster.

StubHub vs Ticketmaster: who polices the bots?

StubHub's leadership says bots aren't its problem. "We don't support bots and we'd love for both the government and primary to do a better job of policing that to make sure those kinds of things don't happen," Bob Kupbens, chief executive of StubHub International, told the BBC last week.

A StubHub spokesperson doubled down in a statement: "We are firmly against the use of bots. They are used at the point of primary sale, before tickets reach any resale marketplace, which is why we have called for stronger enforcement at source." The company, owned by US investment group Digital Fuel Capital, declined to answer specific questions about Skrypka's listings or possible bot use. It said it "does not allow speculative selling, and sellers must confirm they own, or have a right to, the tickets they list".

Ticketmaster rejects the blame-shift. It says it blocks 20bn bots a month and spends millions doing so. Its argument: resale platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub create the financial incentive for bot use in the first place.

Adam Webb of FanFair Alliance, a music industry-backed campaign group, said the sheer volume of U2 tickets on StubHub points to either bots or spec selling. "StubHub claims all their orders come 100% guaranteed but have they seen evidence of Vladyslav's receipts?" he asked. "Are they not concerned that these tickets may have been acquired by the kind of technology that Mr Kupbens so publicly deplores?"

Whitehall's answer

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said: "We are fully committed to stamping out ticket touting for good. For too long, fans have been ripped off and we're determined to right that wrong. We are bringing forward legislation in this parliament and will ensure that our measures are truly effective, enforceable and future-proof."

The Guardian has approached U2 for comment; messages sent to social media pages believed to belong to Skrypka went unanswered. Until the ban bill becomes law, the practical question for fans is simple: on current evidence, the resale market — and the mark-ups — will keep running ahead of the legislation.