Fans confused and frustrated after tickets to see Caitlin Clark play in DC are canceled

Some basketball fans in the D.C. area are frustrated after their tickets were canceled for the Washington Mystics’ highly-anticipated game against the Indiana Fever in June, which will feature star point guard Caitlin Clark.

Ticket holders who went through Ticketmaster will be able to get their seats back, but those who bought through third-party vendors could be out of luck.

The Mystics normally play at the Entertainment & Sports Arena (ESA) in Southeast D.C., which seats 4,200 people. But due to a huge demand for tickets, the game was moved to Capital One Arena, which seats 20,000 spectators. This venue change has created problems for fans who bought tickets to the game at its original location. Some have posted online that their tickets were canceled.

The Mystics responded to the situation on social media platform X, saying people who purchased their tickets from Ticketmaster for the Indiana game at the ESA still have access to the game.

Washington said Ticketmaster had to cancel orders and refund money but is holding seats for those buyers in a comparable location at Capital One Arena and at the same price. Those buyers will receive an email by Friday with further instructions about their new seat location and an invoice.

A spokesperson for Monumental Sports, which owns Capital One Arena, told WTOP’s partners at 7News that customers who used Ticketmaster to purchase tickets at the ESA can buy their seats at the downtown D.C. venue at the same price.

But fans who bought their tickets from a third-party ticket merchant, including StubHub, will not be able to transfer their tickets to Capital One Arena, according to the spokesperson.

Candice Charlton, of Bethesda, told 7News tickets she purchased on StubHub are now “invalid” and she’ll get her money back.

“I’ve been following Iowa for years. My daughter goes there. I’ve been following Caitlin Clark,” Charlton told 7News. “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.”

After tickets to the game at Capital One Arena sold out in record time Tuesday, the Mystics plan to offer a second release of tickets, which they’ll announce next week. Fans are asked to sign up for email alerts for updates on future tickets.

In an emailed statement to WTOP, a Monumental Sports spokeswoman said: “”Fans should go back to their merchant for assistance. The number of re-sale has been very limited. Ticketmaster is our official Ticketing Provider and re-sale marketplace.”