NFL lawsuit going to Supreme Court, could cost them 'hundreds of millions'
It’s no secret that Super Bowl tickets are incredibly expensive. As a result, tickets for the biggest game of the NFL season are not within the budget of any blue-collar Americans.
In fact, they’re barely in the budget of some affluent fans, with the average Super Bowl ticket costing thousands of dollars.
Well, one fan who forked over double the face value for Super Bowl tickets is taking the NFL to court.
In relation to Super Bowl XLVIII — which was held in New Jersey — NFL fan Josh Finkelman is accusing commissioner Roger Goodell and the league of violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Seattle Seahawks dominated the Denver Broncos to the tune of 43-8 in the game, and the outcome of the game was decided rather quickly.
Finkelman’s lawsuit has been a much more back-and-forth affair.
The lawsuit was originally dismissed twice by a federal judge, which is why the latest update comes nearly four years after the Super Bowl in question.
However, an appellate court has taken the lawsuit to the New Jersey Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court decides the NFL did, in fact, violate state law, the case would be re-introduced at the federal level.
Finkelman’s grievance with the league is that they distribute too few Super Bowl tickets to the general public, instead utilizing a lottery system that significantly increases ticket price from face value.
He reportedly paid $2,000 for each of his tickets, which had a face value of $800.
Finkelman’s attorney, Bruce Nagel, claims the NFL only sells 1 percent of its Super Bowl tickets to the general public, directly violating a 2001 New Jersey state law that mandates vendors must sell 95 percent of its tickets directly to the public.
Nagel and Finkelman contend the NFL distributed and sold 99 percent of its tickets to insiders and people with league connections.
The NFL would be forced “to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to people who paid more than face value for their tickets” if the lawsuit is successful, according to Nagel.
For the league’s part, the NFL denies the allegations.
“Many more people desire to attend the Super Bowl each year than can be seated at Super Bowl host stadiums,” NFL lawyers argued in court documents.
The league attorneys contend that no matter the cost of Super Bowl tickets, the demand for them naturally contributes to high secondary market prices.
“Thus, even if the NFL had released Super Bowl tickets for free, it is likely that many fans still would have been forced to pay in excess of face value,” the league claimed.
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