Jayden Daniels’ feud with LSU over his old jersey number has spilled well past the football world, and now a ticket-resale giant has joined in on the joke.
StubHub posted on its official X account Wednesday that it would stop selling tickets in groups of five, framing the move as a tribute to the Washington Commanders quarterback. “Effective immediately, we will no longer offer tickets in groups of 5. Out of respect for Jayden Daniels, we’re only doing 4 or 6+. Thank you for your understanding,” the company wrote. The post has drawn heavy engagement, with Yahoo Sports reporting that StubHub was one of several brands and accounts that jumped on the moment for a laugh.
Effective immediately, we will no longer offer tickets in groups of 5. Out of respect for Jayden Daniels, we're only doing 4 or 6+. Thank you for your understanding. pic.twitter.com/MT9lohBrot
— StubHub (@StubHub) August 13, 2026
What sparked the LSU dispute
The joke traces back to a real legal fight. Daniels won the Heisman Trophy at LSU in 2023 wearing No. 5, then left for the NFL after being drafted second overall in 2024. That number sat unused until this preseason, when sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett started wearing it during fall camp.
Daniels didn’t take it well. According to ESPN, an attorney representing Daniels sent LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry a letter dated Aug. 5 demanding the school stop using his name, image and likeness. A spokesperson for Daniels told ESPN the family is “deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player.”
The dispute has since grown. Louisiana Sports reported that Daniels’ camp also asked LSU to return its copy of his Heisman Trophy, though the outlet notes LSU has no intention of doing so and considers the cease-and-desist letter non-binding.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin has said Pickett was promised the number during his recruitment in December 2024. Former coach Brian Kelly, who was let go in October 2025, told ESPN he believed the same but held off issuing the number to Pickett while Daniels was still on campus because Daniels hadn’t signed off on it.
Pickett and his family aren’t budging
Pickett has made clear he intends to keep the number. “I’ve worn the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old,” Pickett told reporters, according to ESPN. “It’s the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player, and he did real good here.”
His father, Damien Pickett, was more direct with a Louisiana paper. The Advocate reported Damien said the situation “makes us want to wear the number more,” adding that Kiffin has backed the family throughout the process. As of that report, LSU had not told the Picketts that DJ could no longer wear No. 5.
An LSU athletic department spokesman declined to comment when ESPN reached out this week.
Fans have turned on Daniels
The public reaction has not been kind to Daniels. HITC reported that NFL fans piled on after the cease-and-desist letter became public, with one fan writing “that’s a bad look for Jayden” and another calling the whole thing “such a weird thing to do.” Some fans also noted that Joe Burrow’s own LSU number, No. 9, was never officially retired either — a comparison Kelly himself raised, telling ESPN, “We didn’t want to issue No. 9, so you can’t treat one differently from the other.”
Daniels has since tried to soften the tone publicly. According to Yahoo Sports, he wrote that “there are issues to be worked out,” adding he has “a lot of gratitude” for his time at LSU and hopes the matter “will get done privately.”
StubHub’s post, meanwhile, has taken on a life of its own separate from the underlying dispute. Reaction in the replies has been mixed — plenty of fans found the timing funny, but others used the moment to needle StubHub over its own reputation for service fees and resale pricing complaints, arguing the company has bigger problems than a punchline about ticket quantities.
Comparable LSU jersey precedents
| Player | Number | Heisman Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jayden Daniels | No. 5 | 2023 | Not retired; reissued to DJ Pickett in 2026 |
| Joe Burrow | No. 9 | 2019 | Not retired; unworn since 2019 |
| Billy Cannon | No. 20 | 1959 | Formally retired; cannot be worn by another player under LSU policy |
Under LSU’s jersey policy, a retired number can technically still be reissued at a head coach’s discretion — every number except Cannon’s No. 20, which is the only one formally barred from reuse, according to Louisiana Sports. That distinction is central to why LSU believes it’s within its rights to let Pickett wear No. 5, even as Daniels argues otherwise.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as LSU and Daniels’ representatives continue discussions.
