Super Bowl Ticket Lawsuit Dismissal Affirmed by Third Circuit

Two years ago, we reported on a lawsuit filed by Josh Finkelman against the NFL. We summarized the allegations of the lawsuit as follows:

. . . New Jersey consumer protection laws allegedly require that 5 percent of tickets to an event be offered to the general public.  Because the NFL offers only 1 percent to the general public (and gives the rest to teams, networks, broadcasters, etc.), scalpers charge more for the tickets than they should on the secondary market, and Mr. Finkelman was somehow forced to buy these exorbitantly priced tickets from scalpers.

Finkelman was also joined by another plaintiff, Ben Hoch-Parker. The NFL filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Hoch-Parker lacked standing (because he had not actually purchased a ticket). The NFL also argued that since “[n]either plaintiff alleges that he attempted to purchase tickets at face value through the NFL lottery . . . plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that defendants caused them to pay . . . above face value for their tickets.”

Reportedly, in early 2015, federal judge Peter G. Sheridan granted the NFL’s motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit. In late 2015, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals apparently agreed to hear the Plaintiffs’ appeal, and a three judge panel of the Third Circuit recently affirmed the district court, “concluding that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue in federal court.”

We did not reach out to the lawyers involved for comments, but we assume the lawyers who represented the NFL would provide comments similar to the following:

We would also like to add – GO PANTHERS!