LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — A pair of Major League Baseball fans have filed a federal lawsuit against the league, its teams, and their ticketing partners over the league’s refund policy during the coronavirus lockdown.
The federal lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles, takes the league and its ticketing partners to task over not providing refunds for games that have been postponed indefinitely.
Plaintiffs Matthew Ajzenman and Susan Terry-Bazer are using California’s Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act to seek a full accounting of all tickets sold for the 2020 season, including single-game passes, season tickets, and public seat licenses. They are also seeking disgorgement of profits from tickets sold during the 2020 MLB season and class status for the lawsuit.
The suit accuses the defendants of unlawful business practices, civil conspiracy, and unjust enrichment.
“This is a consumer class action against Major League Baseball, the Teams that comprise MLB, and MLB Ticket Merchants, that refuse to refund money to MLB’s fans who purchased tickets for the 2020 MLB season. Baseball fans have been held in limbo as a result of an MLB directive not to issue refunds – despite near impossibility to play a standard 162-game season with spectators – in an unprecedented time of economic hardship as a result of the Novel Coronavirus Disease (“COVID-19”),” the plaintiffs claimed in their lawsuit.
“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. 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; and, should any games be played this year, it is almost certain that they will be played without spectators. Almost a month after Opening Day was canceled, Defendants have failed to proffer any plan,” plaintiffs added.
Major League Baseball, along with most other major sports leagues, suspended play in North America in early March. While the games have officially only been postponed, it is unclear when or even if play in front of fans may return to stadiums this year.
