November 23, 2009

Fan sues Jets, Giants over PSLs

It's way early in the legal process, but a judge has allowed a lawsuit to go forward against against the New York Giants and Jets for requiring personal seat licenses to purchase tickets at their new stadium opening next year. Harold Oshinsky, who somehow has enough money to have been a season ticket holder for both teams for the past 24 years, charges that he has an implicit right to renew his tickets in perpetuity, and can't be denied that just because he won't buy a PSL. U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan didn't necessarily endorse Oshinsky's claim, but said he will be allowed to continue with pre-trial depositions and discovery.

Needless to say, if Oshinsky were to win, this would have huge impacts for stadium financing plans, especially in the NFL, where PSLs are most common. That said, Sheridan didn't sound exactly encouraging in his language, though he did take time to note that “it is common knowledge that professional sports franchisees have a sordid history of arrogant disdain for the consumers of this product.”