The Boston Red Sox are facing a lawsuit over them “allegedly” charging fans junk fees. Junk Fees are extra added fees, that fans find out about at the end of purchasing a ticket. They artificially inflate the price of the tickets and aren’t disclosed until ticket checkout.[1] The lawsuit is a class action alleging that the adverrtised ticket price was not actually the price that they were on sale for.[2]
The Red Sox are arguing that the case should be referred to arbitration or thrown out entirely.[3] In their memorandum in support of their request, the Red Sox argued that fans paid the ticket price that was specified at checkout.[4] The argument is that they knew how much the tickets cost and chose to pay it. The Red Sox are also arguing that when fans clicked the ‘I agree to the following’ in the Terms and Use section, that the fans “affirmatively assented.” [5] This is an interesting argument because from a contract formation perspective, there is no bargaining available in these types of contracts.
As part of their request to send the case to arbitration, the Red Sox have cited a recent ruling in a similar case against the Nationals. The Nationals decision stated that arbitration was not available to the team because there was no harm to the National Consumers League.[6] The Red Sox are attempting to argue that the ruling should not apply to their case because the ruling was not issued by a Massachusetts court, so therefore the courts are not bound by that decision and can choose not to follow it.
The Red Sox are not the only MLB team facing lawsuits over junk fees; the Giants and the Nationals are also facing similar lawsuits from their respective fans. The Giants lawsuit was filed just 10 days after the Red Sox lawsuit. The Giants lawsuit is at a different stage in the litigation than the Red Sox lawsuit. Most recently, the fans in the Giants case have asked the court for permission to amend their complaint, which gives the Giants more time to respond.[7]
These lawsuits highlight a larger issue in the professional sports world. There are laws that are designed to protect consumers which are not being followed by the individual sports teams. There are no consequences for breaking these laws unless they start being enforced. This is one way for the consumers to help ensure that the laws are being followed.
[1] https://frontofficesports.com/red-sox-sa y-fans-whiffed-with-junk-fees-lawsuit/
[2] https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/class-action-lawsuit-alleges-red-003443262.html
[3] https://frontofficesports.com/red-sox-say-fans-whiffed-with-junk-fees-lawsuit/
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/red-sox-say-fans-whiffed-with-junk-fees-lawsuit/ar-AA20ThMQ?apiversion=v2&domshim=1&noservercache=1&noservertelemetry=1&batchservertelemetry=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1
[7] Id.