NFL will reimburse those with seating problems at Super Bowl XLV (Part 2)
This is the conclusion of a two part series of articles discussing problems with seating at Super Bowl XLV and what the NFL plans to do to reimburse the affected ticket holders.
"People at the game were disgusted, but it doesn't take long to be disgusted with a situation like this", Avenatti said.
He also said that "No one is attempting to get rich from this. People are merely interested in being compensated for what happened (at the stadium) and the cost that goes with that”.
And what, pray tell, is the cost and compensation? Oh, only $5 million in damages.
Now before you think that this is another attempt to make money off of the NFL, Avenatti had said that the lawsuit will cover about 1,000 people. That makes it only $5,000 per person.
He also said that Simms was so put off by his bad seating arrangement that he left the game before the second half’s kickoff.
Dolabi is part of the Cowboys’ group known as the “Founders”, who paid $100,000 just for the right to buy tickets. They were the ones who paid money when Cowboys Stadium was being built, totalling over $30 million for construction. He said that the licenses
to buy tickets raised more than $100 million in revenue from over 1,000 Founders.
The lawsuit also says that some of the displaced plaintiffs were in a place where they couldn’t see the stadium’s giant screen, "Which defendant Jones and the Cowboys routinely claim is one of the most unique and best features of Cowboys Stadium".
"You were effectively in a bat cave", Avenatti said. "You don't take your 400 best customers and treat them like that".
The lawsuit also said that neither the team, nor the league, compensated ticket holders for “their obstructed and illegitimate seats”.
So the NFL responded by offering these ticket holders the face value of the ticket or a ticket to another Super Bowl. But what about the 400 fans that didn’t even get into the stadium?
Well, before the lawsuit was filed, the NFL said that they would be giving triple the face value of the tickets, or $2,400, to the affected ticket holders. The next day, Goodell said that they would also get tickets for next year’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis.
The day after that, the league said that they could either choose this option, for Super Bowl XLVI tickets and $2,400, or a ticket, round trip airfare and hotel accommodations for any future Super Bowl of their choosing.
If you are one of the 400, then a senior staff member in the NFL will be calling you to inform you about the options and answer any questions that you have. If you have not been called yet, send an email about your situation to
mailto:SBXLV@nfl.com.
Let’s just hope that the NFL will keep a fiasco like this from happening again.
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