Yankees, Mets limit refunds to games through April

Yankee Stadium remains closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, March 26, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. (John Woike/Samara Media via AP) Credit: AP/John Woike
The good news is, if you had tickets to a Mets or Yankees game that was supposed to have been played already, you can get your money back now.
The bad news is, if you have tickets to any other games that clearly won’t be played — at least through mid-June and potentially the entire season — you have to wait longer.
In coordinated and largely similar ticket policies released Thursday, the Mets and Yankees accounted only for games that were scheduled to have been played through then, 16 dates each at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium. And they pushed fans toward accepting credit for already-paid-for tickets, good for future purchases, but also offered refunds.
“We thank you for your understanding as we collectively navigate through this challenging time,” the Mets wrote on their website.
The Yankees and Mets were the 25th and 26th teams - releasing within minutes of each other - to unveil a pandemic-related ticket policy this week. Through Thursday evening, 21 of 28 policies account for at least some and usually all of May, leaving the local teams in the April-only minority with the Indians, Twins, Rangers, Brewers and Dodgers.
Mets ticket-buying fans can request a refund through their My Mets Tickets account beginning May 7. The Yankees asked fans seeking their money back to contact their team ticket representative or check their Ticketmaster account.
Both teams made refund information more difficult to find than credit information. For the Mets, “refund’ doesn’t appear until the 1,175th word of the 1,284-word ticket policy, at the bottom under "Additional Information.” The Yankees tucked it in three-quarters of the way down under “Other Options.”

An empty Citi Field on Monday afternoon after the MLB announced a delay to opening day to mid May to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Queens, New York on March 16, 2020. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
Both teams also offered bonuses — the Mets bigger than the Yankees — for rolling over previous purchases as credit for future ones, i.e. incentive for letting the organization keep the money. That has become standard practice across baseball this week after MLB allowed teams to decide how to deal with ticket issues.
On the Mets side, season-ticket holders get a 20% bonus if they apply their 2020 payments to the future. The regular credit is good for 2021 season tickets, group and individual tickets in 2020 or 2021, parking and concessions. The bonus credit is for upgrading 2021 season tickets plus the other items.
Unspecified restrictions may apply to group/individual tickets and concessions purchases, according to the Mets.
Credit-accepting group and individual ticket buyers get a 10% bonus, good for 2020 or 2021 tickets (minus unspecified blackout dates).
For the Yankees, all ticket-buyers automatically receive credit. Season-ticket holders, who are eligible for a 10% bonus, can use it on 2021 plans or other games through the end of the 2021 season. Those who bought group tickets or game suites — they also can get a 10% bonus — and individual tickets can apply credit to ticket purchases through 2021.
Policies from both teams are for tickets purchased through the teams. Tickets bought on the secondary market through resellers such as StubHub are subject to those companies’ rules.
Visit yankees.com/updates or mets.com/updates for more details.
Until this week, MLB hesitated in offering ticket refunds, but changed its mind amid increasing criticism as teams sat on that money, angering fans at a time of significant economic upheaval.
Nobody knows when baseball will return or when fans will be allowed back into stadiums.
MLB is mulling various contingency plans in which teams would play 80-100 games, with reports this week citing rising optimism for a late June/early July start. But there is doubt that those games would happen at teams’ home ballparks and skepticism that spectators would be allowed to attend games at all in 2020 — as well as questions regarding what social-distancing norms and building capacities will look like in 2021.
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