By Joseph M. Hanna, of Goldberg Segalla
On Wednesday, August 6, Judge Lynn of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted the Dallas Cowboys’ motion to dismiss in another class action lawsuit arising from the 2011 Super Bowl XLV seating debacle. The NFL, however, was not as fortunate.
The Dallas Cowboys hosted the 2011 Super Bowl and undertook the task of creating temporary seating to increase the number of tickets available. The extended number of tickets was sold, but not all of the promised seats were constructed on time.
The plaintiffs here brought suit against the Cowboys and the National Football League claiming misrepresentation of seats, and failure to disclose condition of seats among other infractions. The plaintiffs in the case are ticketholders whose seats were relocated, unavailable, delayed, or obstructed in their view of the field.
A very similar case, Simms v. Jones, et al., brought by different plaintiffs for the same injuries arising from the same Super Bowl seating problems (also by the same attorney), alleged nearly identical claims. As in Simms before, the Cowboys filed a motion to dismiss all claims against the team because the tickets did not establish a contractual right with the ticketholder. The judge agreed and dismissed all claims against the Cowboys with prejudice.
The tickets do, however, establish a contract between the NFL and the ticketholder. As such, the NFL’s motion to dismiss was not granted in full. Claims against the NFL for negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment were dismissed, as before in Simms, because such claims require an injury independent of a mere breach of contract. The NFL was able to dismiss those claims, but is still being sued under claims of breach of contract and negligence.
To see the opinion, visit: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-txnd-3_13-cv-01005/pdf/USCOURTS-txnd-3_13-cv-01005-1.pdf
