A federal court judge ruled this week that nine fans who were affected by the Super Bowl XLV temporary seating fiasco in Dallas in '11 could proceed to a jury trial with their claims. Judge Barbara Lynn, who last year denied class certification for the case, ruled against the NFL’s effort to dismiss the individual claims, except in one of the cases (a fan who argued she should be compensated for not getting in to see pregame festivities). The ticketholders had various claims, from not getting a seat for the game, to getting a different seat for the game, to their seats having obstructed views.
The NFL had argued in part that the cases should be dismissed because what the league had offered as compensation was what the fans were eligible for under Texas law. Lynn ruled the ticketholders could be able to win more in a lawsuit than the NFL had offered, which most other ticketholders had taken to relinquish their claims. The NFL offered packages to the 13,000 affected fans, ranging from three times face value of the ticket plus a ticket to the next Super Bowl to $5,000.
The league also faces a similar lawsuit in the same court district that encompasses hundreds of affected ticketholders from that Super Bowl. That case was filed last year, whereas the one Lynn ruled on this week, Simms v. NFL, was filed shortly after the '11 game.
