What happens to all of the tickets that were sold for World Series games that weren’t necessary?
Do they refund the money?
Give a credit to the ticket holder for a future game?
If a person paid a huge amount of money to a ticket reseller to see Game 7 of the World Series, and the game isn’t played, are they just out of luck?
In my experience:
Do they refund the money?
Yes.
Give a credit to the ticket holder for a future game?
No.
If a person paid a huge amount of money to a ticket reseller to see Game 7 of the World Series, and the game isn’t played, are they just out of luck?
Usually they will be SOL, but it depends on the reseller. Sometimes you can get all but a handling fee refunded.
Season ticket holder here (Cubs; yes, I know, sad). We were given the option to buy playoff/series tickets for all possible games (one play-in game, three NLDS games, 4 NLCS games, 3 WS games since the NL lost the All-Star game); you had to buy the full package, take it or leave it (partial season-ticket holders were given a smaller package).
The cost of the unused tickets (about $800 per seat for this year’s quick exit) will be deducted from next season’s ticket package, so it’s like a short-term loan to the club. We could claim a direct cash refund, but my understanding is we’d lose our season ticket rights and be put on the season ticket waiting list.
If we had sold the tickets in advance (say on StubHub), the ticket holder would have been SOL if he tried to redeem it with the club; the club specifies the refund goes to the season ticket holder (of course I would personally make arrangements to return the luckless fan’s cash, since I’m a nice guy).
Specifying that the fan is “luckless” is redundant, since it’s a Cubs fan.
StubHub does give a guarantee when you buy tickets through them. We had tickets to game 4 of the Angels/Red Sox series and everything was refunded. I assume StubHub is responsible for this, rather than any MLB team.
So, any not trying to pry into your finances, but you would get an 800 clam refund because you didn’t get to see the Cubbies in the 1 play in game, I’m going to say 1 NLDS game because they only had one more at Wrigley, 4 NCLS games, and 3 WS games for a total of 9 games.
My calculator calculates that at $88.88 per seat. Pretty damn good for Series tickets.
Oh, but you are a Cubbies fan! No series for you… 
Sorry, I couldn’t resist…
The ticket prices escalate significantly in later rounds. My (worthless) Minnesota Twins World Series tix from 2006 have a face value of $225. The first round was only $55. BTW, WS tix in 2004 were only $150. That’s some pretty serious inflation.
Also, the Twins always make you buy tickets for eleven playoff games (3 ALDS, 4 ALCS, 4 WS), regardless of how may games will actually be played in Minnesota. I suppose it’s possible that they would only sell three WS games if that’s the way it worked out, but the AL has owned the All Star game since they put that rule into effect.
The Twins are kind enough to give cash refunds on unplayed games though. They don’t make you roll the money into next year.
I have the unused tickets in front of me (We sit in the terrace; lower level but not box seats). The NL Tiebreaker was $30 (one unused), The NLDS tix were $35 a pop (two unused; the tix were sold in Sept. before matchups were set), NLCS $50 apiece (four unused), and the World Series $190 (three unused) for a total refund of $905 a ticket.
The series tickets (by far the most expensive) are clearly the reason to buy the package, as these would be impossible to score if the unthinkable happened. Putting a face value on these seems something of a philosophical connundrum…you could argue that they should be expensive since they have never made it, but then again since they never go you know they’re really worthless; A baseball variant on the immovable object/irresistable force question. 
What surprised us this year was that the club didn’t offer playoff tix to season ticket holders until mid-September. In years past, we’d hear from the Cubs in August; we have worthless series tickets for 2004, 2003 (yes, we were at the Bartman game), and 1998. Some fans actually frame these symbols of futility; we just toss them in the junk drawer, where they silently mock us :).
Since StubHub is MLB’s official secondary ticket seller, I would think that you wouldn’t have to worry about getting your money back.
Thanks for the replies!