London stalling: Phillies fans who can’t travel to England find they’re stuck with expensive tickets

When Jenna Weinerman bought tickets for the Phillies’ London Series more than six months ago, she thought that — if a conflict arose — reselling the seats would be easy, just as it is for other Phillies games.

Her assumption was wrong.

Since a work conflict came up this spring, the 38-year-old marketing director, who lives in Rittenhouse, said she has spent hours calling and chatting online with customer service representatives from Ticketmaster, MLB, and the Phillies.

As of Thursday, she had yet to get a clear answer as to why she couldn’t use Ticketmaster to resell her two weekend packages — which cost $425 in total and include two tickets for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s Phillies-Mets games — and why restrictions weren’t made more clear to fans prior to purchase. Her attempts to sell the tickets on other secondary market sites, such as StubHub, also have been unsuccessful, she said.

“There has just been roadblock after roadblock after roadblock,” she said. The experience has added frustration to the sadness she was already feeling over having to miss out on the trip.

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“You lost a lot of money for something you were really excited about,” Weinerman said, “and you don’t have any answers.”

Weinerman is one of several Phillies fans who now can’t go to London and would have liked to recoup some of their money. The Inquirer talked to six of those fans, all of whom said that their seats at London Stadium will sit empty.

“I would’ve liked them to go to someone,” said Ann Morrison, 37, of Coatesville, who is out $300. “I wasn’t even trying to profit off them. I would’ve taken $50.”

The tickets to the London Series are on sale through Ticketmaster UK, but several ticket holders said they made their way to that website through a link on the MLB’s official London Series page. Fans began buying tickets during the presale in November. As of Thursday, the games weren’t sold out, with tickets available for both games on the Ticketmaster UK’s primary-market site.

Unlike in the U.S., ticket reselling is strictly regulated in the U.K., but neither consumer advocates nor organizations involved in the Phillies’ London trip knew exactly why consumers were unable to even attempt resale through Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster said resale isn’t allowed at the request of the event organizer, and did not respond to follow-up questions about who the event organizer is.

The MLB, meanwhile, says it has not restricted the resale of the London Series tickets. The league has heard from fewer than a dozen ticket holders who have struggled to resell their tickets and pointed to the different technology used by Ticketmaster UK, technology that prohibits resale on its own platform and to which U.S. fans may not be accustomed.

The Phillies had the same understanding, stressing through a spokesperson that it was Ticketmaster UK that prohibited resale but that they had heard fans could resell tickets on other secondary-market sites.

“This is a cautionary tale to me about buying tickets to events overseas,” said John Breyault, a vice president at the National Consumers League. “If there were restrictions on resale and the Phillies or MLB or whoever sold the ticket to the consumer didn’t make that clear before the people bought the ticket, that’s a problem. They need to be clear up front — before the consumer puts in their credit card information.”

“This isn’t an issue just for Phillies fans,” Breyault added, noting the popularity of seeing Taylor Swift in Europe and the NFL’s push of more international games. (The Eagles are set to open their 2024 season in Brazil in September). “Anybody who is thinking about buying tickets to these games should pay very close attention.”

On the final page of the purchase process for the London Series tickets, there is a link to open Ticketmaster UK’s Purchase Policy, which is more than 10,000 words and includes stipulations such as, “You are not entitled to purchase any tickets as a trader acting in the course of business with the intention of reselling your tickets for profit unless formal written permission is given by us and the relevant event partner in advance.” It does not specify what constitutes a trader, though legal definitions indicate a person has to be working in a business or professional capacity.

In addition, the Ticketmaster UK policy notes, “You may not resell or transfer your tickets if prohibited by law. In addition, event partners may restrict or prohibit the resale or transfer of tickets for some events.” (Since about a week ago, ticket holders said they have had the option to transfer their tickets, without the ability to exchange money over the platform).

Kristyn Daly, 32, a gym owner in Exton, said she would have thought twice about purchasing her $175 weekend package had she known they would be difficult to list for resale.

“It’s probably in the fine print,” Daly said, “but you know everyone just scrolls to the bottom and moves on.”

At least one U.S. ticket holder who thought they had bought insurance couldn’t get relief when their plans changed.

During the November presale for the London Series, Mary Kathryn Rhoades, 53, of Newark, Del., bought two weekend packages, plus hard-copy collector tickets, for more than $500 — and checked the box to spend an additional $11 on “missed event cancellation insurance” through Allianz Global Insurance.

When she found out she wouldn’t be able to attend due to family health issues, she learned that her “missed event cancellation insurance” covered only U.K. residents, according to Rhoades’ account and email exchanges with Allianz reviewed by The Inquirer.

“You would think they wouldn’t even have it be available to a U.S. citizen,” Rhoades said.

In an email on May 13, a customer service representative for Allianz offered to refund Rhoades the $11 she paid for the insurance.

Rhoades said she did not recall reading that the insurance was only available to U.K. residents. Allianz spokesperson Daniel Durazo pointed to the last page of the checkout process, which read: “Protect your ticket purchase. Only valid for residents of the UK.”

Rhoades, a retail manager, said she would have tried reselling directly through Ticketmaster if it were possible, but she hasn’t even attempted to put the seats on another secondary-market site, given that she has no experience doing so.

She said she was hopeful that the MLB might provide tickets to a game at Citizens Bank Park or even a voucher for the MLB Shop, but she has yet to get a response to an email she sent the league last month.

Weinerman, meanwhile, has sent several messages this week to Make-A-Wish UK, asking about donating the tickets so her seats don’t sit empty Saturday and Sunday.

“I want this story to have a happy ending,” she said. “I hope there is a child across the pond who will enjoy an American baseball game.”

As of Thursday, Weinerman had yet to hear back from Make-A-Wish.