No fan of MLB ticket policy

A PHILLIES FAN FROM New Jersey is suing the club and online ticket reseller StubHub for not disclosing the original face value of tickets resold on StubHub's website.

The class-action lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in northern California by Joseph Fabozzi and New York-based attorney Randall Newman, alleges that consumers are harmed by the practice.

Fabozzi purchased two tickets earlier this season to a game against the Nationals for $75 each, plus fees. The face value on the tickets he printed out was listed as "N/A," which the suit claims is a violation of state laws. The ticket's face value was also not listed on StubHub's website.

Fabozzi claims that if he had known the original face value, he might not have bought them. Newman, who filed a similar lawsuit against the Yankees that was dismissed by a judge in New York, filed the suit in StubHub's home state of California, believing that the state's laws regulating the sale of event tickets favor consumers more than New York's.

In an interview, Newman said the practice of not including the original face value enables large ticket brokers to purchase huge chunks of single-game tickets, which affects available supply on the primary market, and to sell them to consumers, who are then unable to determine the original price.

"Who's benefiting from all of this? The consumers? No way," Newman said. "The teams aren't selling all their tickets [to individual consumers]; they are selling them to brokers, and the consumer is getting screwed."

The Phillies, which like all Major-League Baseball teams promote StubHub as its official ticket reseller, said it has yet to be served with the lawsuit and was unable to comment. StubHub did not return a request seeking comment.