Connecticut-based Prestige Entertainment and a group of other ticket brokers sued the Dodgers and club owner Guggenheim Baseball Management, alleging breach of contract and promissory fraud relating to the club’s recently signed partnership with ticket distribution company Eventellect. The plaintiffs, which also include Broadway Hospitality Group, Venue Kings Ticket Brokers and 714 Tickets, claim the Dodgers reneged on promises to have recurring rights to purchase season tickets. The suit was filed in L.A Superior Court, and the group of brokers claim they were used for years to prop up the Dodgers’ ticket sales, with an unfulfilled promise of being able to recoup profits once the team became dominant. “The Dodgers seduced and encouraged plaintiffs to keep purchasing Dodgers tickets with the illusion that promised land was just over the horizon,” the suit reads in part. “Relying on the Dodgers’ representations, plaintiffs kept purchasing more tickets with the expectation that they would have a right to those tickets when the Dodgers finally turned things around. Now, finally, the Dodgers are favorites to reach the World Series, and plaintiffs, after years of muddling in the trenches, are ready to reap the reward for their patience. The Dodgers, however, had a different plan, one that would rob plaintiffs of their due.”
WHAT ARE THEY SEEKING? The group of brokers do not specify an amount of monetary damages sought and are aiming for an injunction to get their seats back. “Option 1 would be to get the tickets back,” said Jonathan Genish, the attorney representing the plaintiffs. “The Dodgers notified my clients of what they were doing really late in the game and strung them along to the point where they couldn’t shift their resources elsewhere.” The Dodgers late Thursday said they had not seen the complaint and did not comment. Some of the broker plaintiffs have consolidation deals with other teams similar to what the Dodgers now have with Eventellect. The Dodgers' lawsuit also bears some similarity to an ongoing case involving the Yankees and Maryland-based ASC Ticket Co., though that lawsuit does not involve a ticket consolidation deal by the club and relates to season tickets already purchased and then revoked.
