MLB, Ticket Resellers Sued by 2 Fans over Denied Refunds Amid COVID-19 Hiatus

Two fans have filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, each individual club and ticket resellers for not refunding tickets they bought for games that haven't happened because of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Matthew Ajzenman said he bought a partial season plan that included 20 New York Mets games, while Susan Terry-Bazer said she bought six tickets for a May 9 game at Yankee Stadium between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Ajzenman said he made a $317 payment on the overall cost of $1,730 to the Mets, while Terry-Bazer said she paid $926 to Ticketmaster.

MLB, its teams and ticket resellers have treated games as postponements rather than cancellations thus far since it remains uncertain if or when the 2020 season will commence and how the schedule will look if it does.

Ajzenman and Terry-Bazer filed the lawsuit Monday in California and are hoping for other "similarly situated" plaintiffs to join them in a class-action lawsuit.

Attorney Glenn Phillips added:

"During an unprecedented crisis, while so many businesses have provided refunds for services that can't be fulfilled, it remains notable that baseball—America's pastime—is forcing fans to take the loss on ticket sales. Millions of Americans are out of work right now and need access to the funds wrongfully withheld by MLB, MLB teams and ticket merchants."

MLB is allowing teams to keep ticket proceeds until an official decision is made regarding the 2020 campaign and whether at least a partial season can be played.

Per Rogers, MLB teams are likely to offer credit toward tickets in 2021, although refund policies will be triggered if the 2020 season is partially or fully canceled.

Even if MLB does manage to have some form of a season in 2020, it seems unlikely that fans will be permitted to attend most or all of the games.

MLB has been weighing options for how to get the season started in the relatively near future, and the "Arizona plan" seems to be the one gaining the most traction. In that scenario, teams would be quarantined in hotels and tested regularly for COVID-19. They would also play all their games in Arizona.

No fans would be allowed to attend those games, however, which means the offering of refunds may soon be an inevitability for MLB, its teams and ticket resellers.

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Bleacher Report's David Gardner interviews athletes and other sports figures for the podcast How to Survive Without Sports.