Royals announce ticket/refund policy for games postponed due to coronavirus pandemic
The Kansas City Royals began reaching out to season-ticket holders Wednesday about refund and credit options for game tickets affected by Major League Baseball’s postponement of the start of the 2020 regular season.
Because MLB had deemed the games “postponed” since the originally scheduled season opener on March 26, each of the league’s 30 franchises waited until this week to unveil their own refund or exchange policies.
The Royals will grant refunds to ticket holders who purchased tickets directly through the team for games from April 2 through May 6, but they must contact the Royals directly and request the refund.
In lieu of refunds, the Royals will also offer credit for season-ticket holders, suite holders, people who purchased mini-plans and those who bought individual game tickets for games scheduled from April 2 through May 6.
The credit will be valid for tickets to any game played in 2020 or 2021.
In addition to credit, season-ticket holders will also see an additional 5 percent of their purchase tacked onto their account. They’ll also receive 25 percent reduction in the price of their season parking package. The Royals will also institute a price freeze and guarantee those ticket holders will pay the same amount for season tickets in 2021 as they did this year.
For those who bought group ticket packages (20 or more) who accept the credit, they’ll get an additional 5 percent of their purchase tacked onto their account. The club will issue a price freeze and guarantee they’ll pay same amount for a group ticket package in 2021. They’ll also receive 10 free parking passes for a future outing.
Single-game ticket holders who accept the credit will also receive an additional 5 percent of their purchase tacked onto their account as well as a 20 percent discount off the purchase of a game ticket in 2021.
Ticket holders who bought mini-plans and accept the credit will get vouchers for four free tickets in 2021.
The refund/exchange policy excludes tickets purchased through a third-party website such as StubHub.com or on the secondary market. Those ticket holders must contact the third party directly.
Last week, a pair of fans filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Los Angeles against Major League Baseball, commissioner Rob Manfred, all 30 teams, Ticketmaster, Stubhub, Live Nation and others asking for refunds for tickets purchased to games left in limbo by the postponed season.
According to the event and game ticket search engine website TicketIQ.com, the Royals lost a projected $15,782,688 in ticket revenue for 12 home games not played through April, based on average ticket price and the previous year’s attendance figures.
The site also estimated the total lost ticket revenue for MLB teams nationwide at approximately $1 billion in March and April alone.
MLB suspended spring training and postponed the start of its season as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on March 12. Subsequently, all spring training operations were suspended, too, and training facilities were closed.
There currently is no scheduled start date for the 2020 season, though MLB and public health officials remain in contact and MLB and the MLB Players Association continue to discuss several potential plans about how and when they might resume play.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
