NFL deal enhances eBay business

Article Excerpt

EBAY INC. $38 (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares o/s: 1.1 billion; Market cap: $41.8 billion; Price to-sales ratio: 4.2; No divd. paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates e-commerce websites where sellers pay fees to auction items or offer them at fixed prices. The company also operates several other websites, including StubHub (ticket sales for live events). These services are in addition to its local websites (including Kijiji in Canada), which sell classified ads in over 1,500 cities. The company’s StubHub business has formed a new alliance with the National Football League. Under that multi-year deal, starting with the 2018-2019 season, ticketholders can resell their tickets on StubHub’s online platform. That will help cut fraudulent transactions. As well, studying customer data trends will help the NFL develop new pricing strategies and other ways to spur ticket sales. eBay purchased StubHub in 2007, and it now accounts for 10% of the company’s total revenue. If that business continues to…