Earlier this year, more than 20,000 college basketball fans packed Capital One Arena to watch Duke and Michigan face-off in the inaugural Capital Showcase. Millions more tuned in from home, making the matchup ESPN’s most-watched college basketball game in seven years.
Now, StubHub is building on that momentum in Washington, D.C.
StubHub is expanding its partnership with the Capital Showcase, becoming the Official Open Distribution Partner and Official Secondary Ticket Marketplace for this November’s matchup between Virginia and Arkansas on November 8 at 1:00pm ET at Capital One Arena.
Building on a Big Night for College Basketball
The inaugural Capital Showcase set a high bar, with the highly anticipated Duke-Michigan matchup welcoming 20,537 fans, and becoming the season’s highest-attended neutral-site college basketball game and the highest-attended neutral-site college basketball game ever held at Capital One Arena. More than 4 million viewers also watched on ESPN, making it the network’s seventh most-watched college basketball game on record.
StubHub served as the event’s Official Secondary Ticketing Partner, helping fans access one of the biggest college basketball matchups of the season, and this season, that relationship is growing.
“February’s Capital Showcase demonstrated the incredible demand that exists when marquee college basketball programs meet on a national stage,” said Andy Miller, Director of College Sports Partnerships at StubHub. “We’re thrilled to build on that success with next month’s game and use StubHub’s marketplace and Open Distribution capabilities to help more fans access and experience another big day of college basketball in D.C.”
Virginia and Arkansas Take Center Stage
On November 8, Virginia and Arkansas will bring another nationally televised matchup to Capital One Arena, giving both fan bases an opportunity to see their teams compete on a major stage in the nation’s capital. The game will mark the first meeting between the programs in nearly three decades, dating back to 1998, when the Razorbacks narrowly defeated the Cavaliers, 85–83.
“There’s something special about bringing great college basketball programs together at Capital One Arena, and the response to February’s Duke-Michigan match-up proved that,” said Rick Giles, President of The Gazelle Group, producer of the Capital Showcase. “We’re excited to build on that success with StubHub and give Virginia and Arkansas fans the opportunity to be part of another memorable day of college basketball.”
Expanding Access Through Open Distribution
The expanded partnership is the latest example of StubHub’s Open Distribution model in action, which gives rightsholders another way to reach fans by making official ticket inventory available through StubHub’s global marketplace, meeting fans where they already search for and buy tickets.
For the Capital Showcase, that means connecting more Virginia and Arkansas fans with the opportunity to experience one of the season’s marquee college basketball events live in Washington, D.C.
The Capital Showcase featuring Virginia and Arkansas tips off November 8 at Capital One Arena, with tickets available now on StubHub.
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