Washington Nationals Tickets Investigation: Illegally Disclosed Fees?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe the Washington Nationals and MLB.com may have violated the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act by excluding processing fees from the advertised price of game tickets sold online, and they’re now gathering affected buyers to take legal action.

Specifically, the attorneys believe that when a consumer buys game tickets on Nationals.com, MLB.com or the Ballpark mobile app, a processing fee may be added to their purchase late in the checkout process without being disclosed in the initial price—potentially causing them to pay more than the advertised ticket price. It’s possible that this suspected “drip pricing” practice, i.e., advertising only part of a ticket’s price while leaving out mandatory fees until later in the purchase process, may run afoul of D.C. law, which prohibits deceptive advertising practices.

FTC Considering Banning Certain Ticket Fee Practices

In November 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a proposed rule to address unfair and deceptive fees for goods and services, including event tickets. Specifically, the agency is considering banning certain fee practices that it has found to be prevalent and harmful, including misrepresenting the total cost of goods and services by leaving out mandatory fees from advertised prices and misrepresenting the nature and purpose of the fees.

The FTC noted that consumers had expressed concern that sellers frequently do not advertise the total cost a buyer will have to pay and instead add on fees “only after consumers are well into purchasing transactions.” According to the agency, many consumers also complained that sellers often misrepresent fees or fail to explain their purpose, leaving buyers wondering what the fees are for and feeling that they’re essentially paying for nothing.

The FTC found that the thousands of public comments it received after initially announcing its intention to address junk fees and other potentially deceptive pricing practices “strongly support” the need for a rule to address harm to consumers and businesses.

Several class action lawsuits have also been filed alleging that drip pricing and junk fees violate consumer protection laws. In one example, a hotel operator was accused of violating the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act by adding various fees onto the total price customers pay for a hotel room once they are already several steps into the booking process, which significantly raises the initially advertised price. According to the suit, this so-called drip pricing or partitioned pricing is considered an unlawful trade practice under the D.C. law.

 Consumers Complain About Nationals, MLB Ticket Fees

Consumers have complained on Reddit about processing fees and other charges that are added on to the ticket price for Washington Nationals and other MLB games. Many ticket buyers said the fees ended up significantly increasing the advertised ticket price and were not initially disclosed when they began searching for tickets.

Below is a sampling of complaints posted on Reddit about MLB ticket fees [sic throughout]:

Does anyone know if you buy tickets day-of at the park, are there are any fees included? There are $9 tickets on the MLB app for tonight's game, but fees tack on more than 50% on top of it. Still cheaper than secondary market tickets, but if I can show up and pay $9 flat at the park I'd rather do that.”
— benjig7, Reddit.com

I usually buy tickets online before I go to the game. It's been forever since I bought tickets at the stadium. Surprisingly MLB.com has the best price for tonights game where I want to sit. I checked 714tickets, seatgeek, etc. But for 3 $21 tickets, they want $25 in "service charges". I guess it costs that much to send the tickets to my phone. Who knew.”
— Troutmaggedon, Reddit.com

I'm visiting Pittsburgh and just wanted to go to a game. I went to the team website to buy tickets and there are so many fees! Something called a "Pirates per ticket" fee which had no description. Then it cost $7.50 just to keep the tickets at will call. These all just seem rather ridiculous to the point I'd rather not attend.”
— klondike838, Reddit.com

I had 13 bucks added on for the game I went to which was a quarter of the whole cost. If the fees are on every order they need to just be in the ticket price.”
— stilltilting, Reddit.com

I was shopping for tickets on the giants site today for a couple weeks out and was gobsmacked by nearly $10 in fees per ticket. Found essentially the same seats on StubHub for about 20% less.”
— harad, Reddit.com

I dont understand why they can't just put all the fees into the price of the ticket. The price I see is not the price I get when I go to buy I end up paying upwards of 20 bucks or more on top of the pair of tickets”
— lggins01, Reddit.com

Is This a Lawsuit? What Am I Signing Up For, Exactly?

You are not signing up for a lawsuit, but rather a process known as mass arbitration. This is a relatively new legal technique that, like a class action lawsuit, allows a large group of people to take action and seek compensation from a company over an alleged wrongdoing. Here is a quick explanation of mass arbitration from our blog:

[M]ass arbitration occurs when hundreds or thousands of consumers file individual arbitration claims against the same company over the same issue at the same time. The aim of a mass arbitration proceeding is to grant relief on a large scale (similar to a class action lawsuit) for those who sign up.”

The terms of use for MLB.com, Nationals.com and the Ballpark app contain both a class action waiver and an arbitration clause requiring users to resolve most disputes via arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution that takes place outside of court before a neutral arbitrator, as opposed to a judge or jury. It’s for this reason that attorneys working with ClassAction.org have decided to handle these matters as mass arbitrations rather than class action lawsuits.

How Much Does This Cost?

It costs nothing to sign up, and you’ll only need to pay if the attorneys win money on your behalf. Their payment will come as a percentage of your award.

If they don’t win your claim, you don’t pay.

How Much Money Could I Get?

There are no guarantees as to how much money you could get or whether your claim will be successful. However, the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act provides that consumers whose rights are violated may be owed up to $1,500 per violation.

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