Fans File Class-Action Lawsuit Against NFL Over Canceled Hall Of Fame Game
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The NFL has yet another legal battle on its hands. This time, according to a legal filing distributed to CBS Boston, fans who bought tickets to Sunday's canceled Hall of Fame Game in Canton are accusing the league of breaching their contract with ticket buyers.
The NFL is accused of acting negligently in their preparation of the field for the game, as well as knowingly withholding knowledge of the game's cancellation from fans while they waited inside the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium and continued to purchase concessions. Other fans purchased tickets but were left without seats entirely due to an incomplete installation of seating before the game.
The group of five plaintiffs contains a "Cancelled Game Class" that could grow to as much as 22,000, which is the full capacity of the stadium, and a "Seatless Class," which could grow to as many as 50 ticket buyers who did not get seats to the game. The "Seatless Class" harkens back to Super Bowl XLV at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, which landed the NFL in legal trouble after a group of ticket buyers were left without seats due to a lack of installed temporary seating.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of Ohio, cites both a "history of mismanaging the stadiums where its games are held" and a "history of scheduling games on unsafe playing surfaces" on the part of the NFL. The filing refers to the 2015 Hall of Fame Game, in which Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham suffered a torn ACL in a non-contact injury on the stadium turf.
The suit goes into great detail describing the multitude of ways the NFL allegedly mishandled the preparation of the field, from removing decking that covered the field six hours late, to the lack of time given for the paint on the field to dry, to the mishandled attempt to heat the paint which led to the "congealed" surface that caused the cancellation of the game, to the almost laughable attempt to apply a substance to fix the paint that was discovered to cause burns if it made skin contact.
The plaintiffs seek damages that comprise ticket purchases, lodging and travel expenses, missed hours of employment while on vacation, and purchases made at the stadium on the day of the game. Many gameday purchases were made while the league maintained what the filing called "a facade of normality" prior to canceling the game just before the expected 8 p.m. kickoff.
And now, it's time to wait for the NFL's response. It will be interesting to see which avenue they take to defend themselves, especially considering that the plaintiffs argue that they fully complied with the terms and conditions of their ticket purchases. "Yeah, but you signed the papers" doesn't sound like a viable defense for the league in this case and they don't have a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the fans that they can fall back on.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
