Major League Baseball and its ticketing partners, including Ticketmaster and StubHub, have been hit with a lawsuit regarding ticket refunds as the season remains delayed. The suit was filed Monday with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and alleges violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law as well as civil conspiracy.
New Yorkers Matthew Ajzenman and Susan Terry-Bazer are behind the lawsuit targeting the MLB’s 30 clubs, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, StubHub and Last Minute Transactions. Ajzenman purchased a Mets partial season ticket package while Terry-Bazer bought six tickets for the May 9 Red Sox-Yankees battle in the Bronx. The purchases cost $1,730 and $926, respectively, via USA Today. Both fans are calling on the involved parties to issue full refunds for their purchases given the status of the season.
“As stadiums remain empty for the foreseeable future, baseball fans are stuck with expensive and unusable tickets for unplayable games in the midst of this economic crisis,” the lawsuit said. “Under the pretext of `postponing’ games, at the directive of MLB, teams and ticket merchants are refusing to issue refunds for games which are not going to be played as scheduled — if ever.”
“While many businesses across this country have acted lawfully and ethically by providing consumers with refunds for events that will never occur during this pandemic, sometimes at the risk of bankruptcy, it remains notable that America’s pastime — baseball — is refusing to do right by its fans.”
The lawsuit echoes the complaints thrown at Ticketmaster and StubHub over concert ticket refunds. Both companies changed their policies in ways that fans deemed unfair, with StubHub pivoting to voucher-only credits rather than cash refunds, which resulted in a fan lawsuit as well. Ticketmaster caught the ire of consumers and lawmakers by changing its policy to only issue refunds for cancelled events rather than postponed or rescheduled ones. After drawing severe backlash, parent company Live Nation announced a revised refund program which includes postponed shows.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and other officials have maintained that baseball will be back, though insiders report it is unlikely nationwide ballparks will be used this season. Dr. Anthony Fauci recommended that the league could begin its operations this summer if there is sufficient virus testing supply and players are contained in one playing environment without fans. That scenario could come to fruition in Arizona ballparks, per reports.
The league is yet to comment on the lawsuit.
2 Comments
Comments are closed.
The NHL is just as evil. I’m still waiting for $1910 refund for Red Wings tickets for a group of students. They use the same argument that the game has been postponed, not cancelled. In an email from my ticket rep, she stated that the postponement of the NHL game was analogous to an “MLB rainout.” My last email to three people involved in Red Wings ticketing was essentially ignored as I have yet to receive the courtesy of a reply. Given this shabby treatment, it is highly unlikely that I will ever take another group of students to a Wings Game.
Marketing professor, maybe what you should be teaching your students and anyone from here on out that will listen is that anytime you buy anything from a sports franchise you are entering into a contractual agreement that is decidedly slanted in favor of these teams and franchises. Maybe what the general population needs to start doing ongoing is if you buy any tickets from a team that is a large purchase (season tickets, ticket packs, groups etc.) your first move should be heres my attorney and my stipulations within this “agreement” or contract that we are getting into and Im assuming ALL risk and your not. Were changing those terms or you can not have me as a customer/buyer. If more people did that, teams would have to change. Food for thought for ALL.