Over the last few years, music festivals have gone from niche entertainment events to a multi-billion dollar industry.
By 2035, the global music festival market is expected to top $15.3 billion, with a CAGR of 16.98%, according to Market Reports World — a far cry from the million-dollar losses of the first Coachella.
Recognizing how massive the financial stakes have become for festival fans, StubHub recently announced a major change in the way it would be handling outdoor live events.
The new program aims to protect the festival-goer experience, giving attendees a path to meaningful recourse if something goes wrong.
StubHub creates a safety net for festival season
As the 2026 summer music festival season kicks off, StubHub announced the launch of FestProtect, a platform “designed to address the growing financial and emotional investment fans are making in live music experiences.”
The first-of-its-kind program is an extension of the company’s existing FanProtect Guarantee.
According to the company’s announcement, FestProtect introduces a tiered rewards and protection system built around some of the most common festival pain points. The tiers include:
- Tier 1 (Major disruptions) — Covers large-scale issues like severe weather disruptions or major artist drop-outs. Fans may receive benefits like access to future festival tickets, or tickets to a future performance of the artist they missed.
- Tier 2 (Scheduling conflicts) — Designed for times when overlapping sets force fans to miss artists they had planned to see. Consumers may receive benefits like access to future performances of the artist they missed.
- Tier 3 (Everyday frustrations) — Addresses common complaints like long lines, blocked views, and Instagram vs. reality moments. Fans may receive surprise upgrades, rewards, or future festival perks.
Source: StubHub
Beginning on June 2, fans can submit their festival-related complaints and experiences through the FestProtect landing page.
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Younger consumers are spending heavily on experiences
StubHub’s defensive rollout comes at a point when spending habits are dramatically changing.
Whereas older generations spend an outsized portion of their incomes on physical things, nearly three-quarters (72%) of millennial and Gen Z consumers told Goldman Sachs they’d rather spend money on experiences than material goods.
Additionally, millennials and Gen Zers are more likely than older generations to splurge on purchases that matter to them, according to data from McKinsey & Company.
Music festivals are one of the most popular, splurge-worthy experiences these generations are spending on. In fact, StubHub categorizes festivals as “one of the largest discretionary purchases consumers make all year.”
Marketplace data from the ticketing company reveals that 35% of young consumers are willing to take on debt or use buy-now-pay-later services to afford festival tickets. And 66% of those festival-goers spend $300 beyond the cost of their ticket during a festival weekend.
“Fans are putting more time, travel, and planning into festival season than ever before,” Jill Gonzalez, Head of Consumer, Product & Tech Communications at StubHub, said in a statement.
Consumer trust is becoming a competitive advantage
Unfortunately, an outsized number of those fans report having negative experiences at festivals.
Some 85% of festival-goers told StubHub they have experienced common live-event challenges like overlapping set times, artist cancellations, and weather disruptions.
Yet 76% say they received no meaningful recourse when something went wrong. Which is where FestProtect comes in.
“FestProtect was created to support fans through the natural unpredictability that comes with live events and help them feel more confident saying yes to festival season,” Gonzalez said.
“In fact, nearly 80% of festival-goers told us a protection program would make them more likely to purchase festival tickets, reinforcing how important flexibility and peace of mind have become for today’s fans,” she continued.
More retail:
- Costco reveals why members are spending more
- T-Mobile drops new free perks for customers as pressure builds
- Walmart CEO addresses the concerns of many longtime shoppers
Ultimately, the rollout of FestProtect highlights a shifting reality in today’s experiential economy: consumer trust has become a prerequisite for purchase, which means good customer service has to become a core business strategy.
For Millennial and Gen Z fans who are increasingly willing to empty their wallets for once-in-a-lifetime experiences, the stakes of an event falling through are simply too high to ignore.
By offering an official safety net for the notoriously volatile festival season, StubHub is attempting to reduce some of the uncertainty that can come with buying tickets. And in a highly competitive secondary ticketing market, that might just be the ultimate competitive advantage.
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