It’s a lucky few fans who are able to attend the Super Bowl each year. The rising price of tickets and increased interest level in the game have resulted in fewer and fewer tickets being available to the general public each year. And one New Jersey man has had enough.
Josh Finkelman of New Brunswick, N.J., filed a class action lawsuit in federal court, claiming that the NFL violated the New Jersey state Consumer Fraud Act by allotting the majority of the league’s 80,000 tickets to its 32 teams rather than the general public, according to NJ.com. The suit alleges that the NFL made just 1 percent of this year’s tickets to the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium available to the general public. The tickets were made available through a national lottery system.
The lawsuit claims that the NFL distributed most of its tickets to broadcast partners, sponsors and “league insiders” while the 32 teams offered up their tickets to resellers on the secondary market. The filing also says that the lack of available tickets forced many prospective buyers to the secondary market, where fans were forced to pay far more than face value.
“The resellers are promised access to these tickets from the franchise, via ticket contracts entered into years in advance, that provide for specific quantities of Super Bowl tickets before the tickets are even printed,” the lawsuit states.
Finkleman claims that he was forced to pay $4,000 for two tickets to the game on Feb. 2, 2014, which he says is “in far excess” of face value. He is seeking “treble damages and attorney’s fees … and any other damages deemed just and proper by the court” in the lawsuit.
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