WASHINGTON (7News) — Basketball fans hoping to see superstar Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever take on the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena said their tickets they bought when the game was scheduled to be played at Entertainment & Sports Arena have been canceled, and have not been transferred over to the new venue.
The Mystics tell 7News the single-game allotment sold out before noon, but an employee in the ticket office said there were "hiccups." The game was moved from the Entertainment & Sports Arena to the larger venue in Chinatown to accommodate the unprecedented demand to watch the basketball phenom.
In announcing the move, the Mystics issued a press release on April 18, promising "Those who have already purchased single game tickets will have an opportunity to select their seats for the game."
Candice Charlton posted online that tickets bought through StubHub are "now invalid."
"[I was]very excited, got way ahead, got my tickets early, and was very excited," Charlton told 7News on Tuesday. "I found out today my tickets were canceled."
The Bethesda, Md., resident said she is a huge Caitlin Clark fan and wanted to take her daughter, who attends the University of Iowa - Clark's school, where she broke records - to the game.
When 7News spoke with Charlton, she showed her collection of clothing donned with the University of Iowa logo.
Charlton bought the tickets from StubHub when the game was still scheduled to be played at Entertainment & Sports Arena, and was worried they would not be transferred to Capital One Arena after the team announced the change in venue.
"I've been following Iowa for years. My daughter goes there. I've been following Caitlin Clark," Charlton said. "As soon as she announced for the draft, I started just trying to figure out what's the next step, how can I see her. A couple of weeks after she announced, I went and looked to see where is the closest or easiest way for me to watch the Indiana Fever. It's against the Mystics in June."
Even before learning on Tuesday her tickets were canceled, Charlton said she has been scrambling to make sure she can still go to the game.
"I just kept saying, 'Can we resolve this before Tuesday because that's when tickets go on sale to the general public, and it just feels like this is going to be a lot harder to sort out once that happens. I called again just before the 10 o'clock deadline today. They said, 'Don't worry. You're going to get a comparable ticket,'" Charlton said. "The 'Don't worry,' turned into a 'You're going to get your money back,' which is great, but I want the tickets. I wanted to see her play."
7News reached out to the Mystics asking these questions:
- What were the “hiccups” in today’s single-game ticket sales to the June 7 game vs Indiana Fever at Capital One Arena?
- What is the team’s message to fans who were unable to purchase tickets because of the “hiccups?”
- Were resale/single-game holders given an option to have similar tickets in COA? Some are saying they had to try again today.
A spokesperson for Monumental Sports shared the following in response to our questions:
"From everything we saw, [Ticketmaster] worked as necessary, it was just significant demand that outweighed inventory.
On the topic of existing Ticketmaster buyers, we are working through that process this week. Customers who purchased via [Ticketmaster] will have the opportunity to buy seats for the new event at the same price (and same sightline) as they had at [Entertainment & Sports Arena]. Emails went out on that yesterday and we’re working through the process this week.
They will receive an email from the team this week with their new seat location and the option to buy them at [Capital One Arena]. So to be clear they are not spending any additional dollars. Same price comparable seats."
7News followed up and asked if fans who bought their tickets off a third party ticket merchant, like StubHub, would be able to transfer their tickets. The spokesperson said no.
Charlton said she is frustrated by the ticket sales system.
"I don't blame the team. I'm too big of a fan to blame the team," Charlton said. "A lot of frustration, because I feel like the systems are co-mingled in some way because they transferred my ticket from one site to the other, so they know I had a ticket. I felt like with a little more foresight, they could have figured this out."
7News has also heard from a fan who says she previously purchased through the team's official ticket seller Ticketmaster and was not allowed to select tickets to the 20,000-seat arena.
Aurora Valenzuela told 7News "I had these tickets in March. There’s no reason I should have to fight with everyone else and not have a ticket."
Still, there were the lucky few who were able to scoop up a pair.
Amid this confusion, Charlton said this high demand for tickets is a good sign for women's sports.
"I'm excited for the team. I'm so excited they're getting to play in a bigger arena," Charlton said, while holding up a shirt that says, 'Everyone Watches Women's Sports.' "I'm going to keep trying. I'm going to keep trying to buy tickets."
