The first lawsuit over the Super Bowl XLV ticket fiasco has been filed.
The suit, filed in federal court in Dallas, accuses the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones of breach of contract, fraud and deceptive sales practices.
As we noted this morning, lawsuits are coming both on behalf of the 400 fans who were forced to watch the game on TVs in the bowels of the stadium because their temporary seats weren’t available and on behalf of Cowboys season ticket-holders who were given folding chairs with obstructed views, rather than the regular seats they were expecting.
None of the parties has commented on the lawsuit, although the NFL says it’s trying to make things up to the fans by offering triple their money back and a ticket to next year’s Super Bowl, or an all-expenses-paid trip to any future Super Bowl.
The ticket debacle started when the local fire marshal did not approve temporary seating at Cowboys Stadium. Although the league knew there were problems associated with the temporary seating during the week before the Super Bowl, the affected fans didn’t find out until they showed up on Super Bowl Sunday.