N.J. football fan sues NFL over Super Bowl tickets
A businessman from New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the National Football League.
According to Reuters, Josh Finkelman claims that the NFL is withholding Super Bowl tickets from the public and allowing resale prices to soar out of the reach of many fans.
Finkelman is reported to have spent $4,000 on two tickets to the Feb 2. championship game. His federal suit accuses the NFL of violating the state Consumer Fraud Act, which the lawsuit says prohibits companies issuing tickets to withhold more than 5 percent of available seating to the public.
According to the lawsuit, filed on Monday, the NFL allocates only 1 percent of tens of thousands of Super Bowl tickets to the general public through a lottery system.
The rest of the fans who want to attend the game are left to the mercy of secondary sales, in which ticket prices might be inflated many times their face value, especially if they are part of a package that includes parties, luxury hotels or limousine rides to the MetLife stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, Reuters reports the complaint said.
The NFL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“It’s unfair the fans can’t get tickets like everyone else for the game,” said Finkelman, a 28-year-old warehouse distributor from New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The NFL is violating state law, said Finkelman’s attorney Bruce Nagel.
“We have a statute in New Jersey that prevents the NFL from doing what they are doing,” Nagel said. “When the NFL has the Super Bowl in New Jersey, they have to open their eyes to New Jersey law.”
The class-action lawsuit seeks unspecified compensation.
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