SeatGeek Raises $238M After Canceled SPAC Merger

SeatGeek closed a major funding round after canceling its ticket to the public markets .

The ticketing platform raised $238 million in a Series E round. The cash haul comes two months after SeatGeek and a SPAC, RedBall Acquisition Corp., mutually agreed to terminate a previously agreed-on merger.

• SeatGeek’s latest round gives it a roughly $1.2 billion valuation.
• That figure represents a significant decline from the proposed $2 billion value in negotiations with RedBall.
• Arctos Sports Partners, Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, Wellington Management, and Accel all participated in the round.

RedBall, chaired by Oakland A’s executive vice president Billy Beane and Redbird Capital Partners Managing Director Gerry Cardinale, redeemed its shareholders on Aug. 17 after failing to complete a merger with a private company. 

The SPAC raised $575 million in August 2020. It redeemed its investors at a 0.2% premium.

SPACs Retract

After an explosion of activity in 2020 and 2021, SPAC initial public offerings have slowed considerably.

There have been 74 SPAC IPOs to date this year, which have raised $167.9 million on average, per SPACInsider. The previous year saw just over half of all SPAC IPOs in history (counting 2022’s), with 613 at an average size of $265.1 million.

2020 was the second biggest year for SPAC IPOs, with 248 at an average of $336.2 million.