CATrends: Baseball Ticket Prices

Just in time for Opening Day, three Major League Baseball teams are facing lawsuits alleging that they cheated fans out of millions of dollars by charging them hidden junk fees that weren’t reflected in advertised baseball ticket prices.

Class-action lawsuits against the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals allege that, until recently, the teams tacked on mandatory fees at the end of the online checkout process – after consumers selected their seats and entered their credit card information – that substantially increased the cost of the ticket.

According to the complaint against the Red Sox, which was filed in January:

The Red Sox’s false advertising centers on their use of drip pricing and junk fees. Specifically, the Red Sox would advertise illusorily low prices for their tickets. When purchasers attempted to buy those tickets, however, the Red Sox would add mandatory fees at the last minute, such as “Per-Ticket Fees” and “Order Fees,” that could increase the cost of a purchase by as much as 150%.

Hidden junk fees inflated the advertised price of a Giants ticket often by more than $50 and a Nationals ticket by nearly 60% more, according to the lawsuits, which allege none of the teams explained the purpose of the fees or how they were calculated.

The lawsuits claim that by the time the teams disclosed the fees to consumers, it was too late. For example, the complaint against the Nationals alleges:

Though the Nationals finally provided a “Total Amount Due,” it is at the bottom of the last page of the purchase process, at which time a consumer has already invested time and effort into selecting and purchasing a ticket, and has already psychologically committed to the ticket.

The complaints against the Giants and Nationals cite the FTC’s Junk Fees Rule, which went into effect last May and prohibits live-event ticket sellers from advertising prices “without clearly, conspicuously and prominently disclosing the total price.”

Find more of our coverage on ticket sellers.