Aramark’s $4.5 Million Capital One Arena Venue-Fee Settlement Pays Equal Shares, Not Your 3% Back — the Claim Form Asks for Your Initials, Not a Receipt, and Closes December 4, 2026

Yes. The settlement website, VenueFeeSettlement.com, is run by the court-approved administrator Eisner Advisory Group (EisnerAmper) and describes itself as “the only authorized website for this litigation.” The court’s order of September 14, 2026 sets out how notice works: Aramark had to hand the administrator its list of known email addresses for class members within seven days (September 21, 2026), and the email notices were due by October 5, 2026.

The official email notice says: “You are not being sued. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.” It carries a unique Settlement Claim ID and points to VenueFeeSettlement.com and the phone number (844) 659-2531. The administrator can also be reached at info@VenueFeeSettlement.com. If a message sends you anywhere else, check it against those two contacts first.

The paper claim form asks for your name, mailing address and email, an optional phone number, your initials confirming you paid the fee, and a signature. It does not ask for a card number or a receipt.

The class, as approved by the court, is “all individuals in the United States who made a purchase from Aramark at Capital One Arena and paid a Venue Fee between October 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025.” Capital One Arena is the Washington, D.C. arena where Aramark operates the food and beverage concessions.

To claim, you initial one statement — that you bought from the Aramark-operated concessions at Capital One Arena and paid a Venue Fee in that period — and sign under penalty of perjury. The form has a field for the Claimant ID “from your notice,” but unlike the name, address and email fields it is not marked as required.

That does not make every claim automatic. Under section 8.2 of the settlement agreement, claims are “subject to reasonable verification by the Settlement Administrator based on the Class List provided by Defendant.” If you received the email, use the Claimant ID it gives you. If you did not but paid the fee, you can still file; just expect that the administrator may check your claim against Aramark’s list.

Why no receipts? The lawsuit alleged that customers at Capital One Arena “are not given the option of a printed receipt.” That is an allegation from the complaint, which Aramark denies along with all other wrongdoing, but it explains why the settlement relies on a sworn statement and Aramark’s own records instead of proof of purchase.

The official notice is direct: “There is no fixed per-person amount. Each class member who submits a valid claim will receive a pro rata (proportional) share of the Net Settlement Fund … The more valid claims that are submitted, the smaller each individual payment will be.” The claim form calls it “an equal (pro rata) share.”

That means the settlement does not give you back the 3% you paid. On a $15 purchase the fee was 45 cents; a fan who bought one drink and a season-ticket holder who paid the fee at every game get the same share.

Our arithmetic: $4,500,000 minus the lawyers’ maximum request of one-third ($1,500,000), minus the expected administration cost of about $74,985, minus a service award of up to $5,000 leaves about $2,920,015 — before the lawyers’ out-of-pocket expenses, which have not been filed yet. Divided equally, that would be about $117 per claim with 25,000 valid claims, $58 with 50,000, $29 with 100,000 and $14.60 with 200,000. The documents we read do not say how many people are on Aramark’s email list, so these are illustrations, not estimates.

Nothing goes back to Aramark. Money from checks that are never cashed can be paid out in a second distribution if that is not prohibitively costly; anything left after that goes to the nonprofit Public Justice.

The case was filed on November 7, 2025 by the consumer group Travelers United, Inc. under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act. The complaint alleged that menus at Capital One Arena showed no 3% surcharge, that the fee was added at checkout after customers had chosen their food and drinks, and that only customers who tapped the “i” button next to “3% Venue Fee” saw an explanation. According to the complaint, Aramark said there that the charge is used for “ongoing maintenance and administrative costs” and that the “fee is not a tip or gratuity, and no portion of the venue fee is distributed to the team members serving our guests.”

Aramark denies any wrongdoing, fault or liability, and the court has not decided who is right. The parties mediated on May 26, 2026 before retired judge Diane Welsh, signed a term sheet on July 13, 2026, and the case continued with Alexander Garner as class representative; the settlement agreement refers to Travelers United as the “former plaintiff.”

The class period ends on December 31, 2025. The settlement papers we read do not say whether a venue fee is still charged at the arena today, so purchases after that date are simply outside this case.

• October 5, 2026 — deadline for the email notices.
• November 5, 2026 — class counsel must file their request for attorneys’ fees (up to one-third of the fund plus expenses) and the service award of up to $5,000. It is due a month before the objection deadline, so class members can read it before deciding whether to object.
• December 4, 2026 — deadline to submit a claim (online or postmarked), to opt out, or to object. You can object and still file a claim.
• January 15, 2027, 10:00 a.m. ET — final approval hearing, Courtroom 130, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 500 Indiana Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Payments are made only if the court approves the settlement.

Under the settlement agreement, payments go out no later than 14 days after the settlement becomes effective. The claim form says direct deposit, PayPal and Venmo are available only if you file online; otherwise you can choose Zelle or a paper check. Checks expire 120 days after their date and can be reissued once.

The court appointed Katherine Aizpuru and Peter Silva of Tycko & Zavareei LLP and Wes Griffith and David McGee of Almeida Law Group as class counsel. If you do nothing, you get no payment and you give up the claims the settlement resolves.