MLB reverses ticket policy, clears way for teams to offer refunds for games called-off due to pandemic

NEW YORK -- With more than 400 Major League Baseball games already called off because of the coronavirus outbreak, the league Tuesday reversed a policy that had restricted fans from widespread refunds on tickets to those games.

On a conference call, MLB informed team officials that they no longer needed to advise fans to hold onto those tickets. The decision clears the way for teams to announce refund policies for the games.

The change comes one week after MLB and all 30 of its teams were named as defendants in a lawsuit over the failure to refund tickets. StubHub, the league’s official resale partner, and three other ticket outfits also were named as defendants.

MLB has listed the affected games as postponed rather than canceled, with fans advised to retain their tickets and await a rescheduled date. Refunds generally require the cancellation of an event, and team and league websites stated that MLB remained “committed to playing as many games as possible when the season begins.”