San Francisco Giants Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Allegedly Hidden ‘Junk Fees’ on Ticket Purchases

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The San Francisco Giants faces a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the ballclub added hidden “junk fees” to ticket purchases, causing consumers to buy game tickets at prices higher than those initially advertised.

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The 25-page class action lawsuit claims that the Giants tacked on last-minute “service,” “convenience,” “handling and convenience,” and “order” processing fees to ticket purchases made through the MLB Ballpark app and mobile and desktop versions of the Major League Baseball website. Per the complaint, the San Francisco Giants junk fees often increase the final price of a transaction by more than $50.

The suit alleges that the addition of junk fees is not only illegal in California but also harmful to consumers, who, the case says, are induced into paying more than the originally disclosed price.

According to the class action lawsuit, although the Giants stopped charging undisclosed junk fees in or around July 2024, the team has not refunded hundreds of thousands of fans the millions in wrongful junk fees they were charged.

Per the filing, the Federal Trade Commission refers to the addition of junk fees to a transaction as “drip pricing” or “bait and switch” advertising, when the total price of a given product or service is not disclosed until late in the checkout process. The Giants, the case says, intentionally advertised ticket prices as lower than they were and failed to disclose the total price of the tickets until consumers had already invested their time and were “committed” to the purported original price.

The filing says that the FTC considers junk fees to be “especially egregious” when they aren’t disclosed until late in the checkout process. Consumers are “unlikely to depart” from a purchasing decision once a transaction is nearly complete, as junk fees effectively manipulate customers into paying more for the tickets than they otherwise would, the lawsuit says.

Drip pricing also harms consumers by creating uncertainty about a product or service’s price, ultimately forcing them to spend more time and effort on comparison shopping, the lawsuit states.

“Large, sophisticated companies—like the Giants—with large, sophisticated marketing departments know that junk fees ensure consumers pay more for the good or service than they otherwise would or should pay,” the case charges.

To make matters worse, the lawsuit says, consumers were imparted with a false sense of urgency due to the Giants’ use of a countdown clock during the checkout process. The suit contends that the countdown clock interferes with consumers’ ability to make informed purchasing decisions. As the clock runs, the case says, consumers are expected to review all information about hidden junk fees, read the 15-page “Terms and Conditions,” and notice and understand the increase in the total price of their tickets.  

The San Francisco Giants class action lawsuit seeks to cover all individuals who purchased a ticket from the team through the MLB Ballpark app or through MLB.com and who paid a service fee, convenience fee, order processing fee, and/or other similar fee to the Giants that was not included in the originally displayed price.

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