Jerry Jones and the NFL screw over 400 SB goers...!!

[salsadancer7]

Yep...you knew there HAD to be a story where SOMEONE got screwed over...in this case, it was 400 SB 45 ticket holders. I wonder how Goodell and Jerry Jones are gonna spin THIS ONE?!

Mon Feb 07 11:33am EST
Displaced fans will receive free Super Bowl tickets next year

By Chris Chase

The 400 Super Bowl ticket holders who lost their seats at Cowboys Stadium because a temporary seating structure wasn't approved by a fire marshal will be guests at next year's Super Bowl, the NFL announced on Monday. Displaced fans will also receive $2,400, triple the face value of the $800 tickets that went to waste.

The move was the league's initial attempt at damage control from the embarrassing incident, which they admitted to knowing about early last week. It's a fine effort but makes the mistake of presuming that more tickets and money can replace the experience of watching your favorite team in the Super Bowl.

"It's not the money. It's the whole issue. We came here for the memories and it's not happening," said Wayne Rusch, a Green Bay Packers fan told CNN on Sunday.

I get that the NFL wants to make a nice overture toward the displaced fans, but how are a few hot dogs and Pepsis going to make up for the fact that some people traveled for days and incurred huge costs to watch their favorite team play in the Super Bowl, only to arrive at the game and find out they didn't have a seat. The $2,400 (which is triple the face value of the $800 ticket) is a fair amount, but I doubt it covers what some people spent on airfare, hotel, car rental, meals and lost time at work. Some of those 400 fans may have bought tickets on the secondary market, where the average ticket was going for around $3,500. One man told Fox40 News in Dallas that he paid a total of $9,000 to attend the Super Bowl.

The cost is only one concern. Folks were understandably livid on Sunday night when they discovered their section was closed.

The reality of the situation is that the NFL can't make up for what happened. Getting tickets to Super Bowl XLVI only matters if the Packers or Steelers are in that game. What interest would a Green Bay fan have in seeing the Patriots and Falcons play in next year's title game? And who's paying for them to get to Indianapolis for the game? Or to stay in a hotel? Or pay taxes on the cost of the reimbursement package, which the IRS will certainly consider a gift? The NFL should step up and pay those costs too. (And that's assuming there even is a Super Bowl next year with labor strife looming.)

The league is making the best of a bad situation, but the bad situation was completely of its own doing. It wasn't an unforseen circumstance that led to these folks getting kicked out of the stadium. It was a baffling oversight by whoever was in charge of getting the seats ready.

A police officer told a reporter that the ice storm which paralyzed Dallas earlier in the week played a role in the delay of the construction of the seating structure. You're telling me that Ines Sainz and that guy from "The Tonight Show" could get to the stadium on media day, but construction workers couldn't? The Cowboys' last home game was before Christmas! The Cotton Bowl was played in the stadium on Jan. 11! Surely there was enough time to put up some stands and get them approved.

Jerry Jones and the NFL blew it. They were so concerned with party plazas and attendance records that they ignored 400 football fans who spent time and money to come see their favorite time in the Super Bowl. Empty gestures can't solve that.

They say everything is bigger in Texas. Even the debacles, it seems.

Displaced fans will receive free Super Bowl tickets next year - Shutdown Corner - NFL  - Yahoo! Sports

 

[Lkr]

the only possible way to make this situation right is for the NFL to get receipts of their expenses of tickets/travel/hotel/food, repay it all, invite them to next years super bowl, and an IOU for a future super bowl with your favorite team(if you're a steelers/packers fan). other than that, there really isn't much they can do at this point :\

 

[Jimbo]

the only possible way to make this situation right is for the NFL to get receipts of their expenses of tickets/travel/hotel/food, repay it all, invite them to next years super bowl, and an IOU for a future super bowl with your favorite team(if you're a steelers/packers fan). other than that, there really isn't much they can do at this point :\

Just think, if thier team is not in it next year they can sell the ticket for as much as they can get next year, probably more than this years worth.
Over all I think it's a fair deal, however the original deal they were offering was 3x the cost of the tickets (from what I heard) which would have NOT been a very good deal when you consider all the expenses involved (mentioned above.)

 

[talos4]

Not only couldn't the construction workers get there, apparently the building inspector and fire marshal couldn't either.

EPIC FAIL

This just confirmed the rumor, Jerry's world really is a circus tent.

 

[salsadancer7]

Just think, if thier team is not in it next year they can sell the ticket for as much as they can get next year, probably more than this years worth.
Over all I think it's a fair deal, however the original deal they were offering was 3x the cost of the tickets (from what I heard) which would have NOT been a very good deal when you consider all the expenses involved (mentioned above.)

The cost of "face value"...some folks went through legal ticket brokers...and some 5 to 8 times the amount. Not to mention the remaining 400 didn't find out till they got to the stadium......so what about the expenses of hotel, airfare, rental cars and meal money....so sorry.. it is no where near a "fair deal".

 

[Ramy]

I agree. They should find out how much these people had to spend total and give it to them.

 

[yaz96]

I agree. They should find out how much these people had to spend total and give it to them.

Yep, you would think they have insurance for this type of thing. File a claim.

 

[HD MM]

The entire Super Bowl from a production standpoint was a failure IMO.

1. The roof was closed during the jet fly-over during the introduction ceremony.
2. The extra seats put in failed fire code leaving hundreds of fans out of luck.
3. The broad they hired to sing the National Anthem forgot an entire line. The game was broadcast to 232 countries in 34 languages. The average audience worldwide is more than 1 billion. I can only imagine how our country looked on a worldwide level.
4. According to the locals, Dallas wasn't prepared for the snow they received despite the forecasts. Streets were left unplowed and un-salted.
5. The sound during the halftime show kept going in and out. How long did they have to get that right? Clearly the sound-tech messed up. Big time.

 

[salsadancer7]

Apparently, the story is starting to get legs. On 790 the Ticket, one of the 400 was on the radio and he stated just about EVERYTHING the NFL has stated they supposedly offered, had not been offered until AFTER the game. The free food, was cold macaroni and cheese IF you happen to see the area, the so-called "exclusive" area to the see the, was about 5 feet BELOW the playing field behind the media area. Drinks? Soda, IF you happen to be close to the area where they had drinks. The list goes on and on.

The Flagship Station for South Florida Sports -- The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz

Check out the one where it states Paul Kutcher -Attorney.

 

[mccoyrj]

The entire Super Bowl from a production standpoint was a failure IMO.

1. The roof was closed during the jet fly-over during the introduction ceremony.
2. The extra seats put in failed fire code leaving hundreds of fans out of luck.
3. The broad they hired to sing the National Anthem forgot an entire line. The game was broadcast to 232 countries in 34 languages. The average audience worldwide is more than 1 billion. I can only imagine how our country looked on a worldwide level.
4. According to the locals, Dallas wasn't prepared for the snow they received despite the forecasts. Streets were left unplowed and un-salted.
5. The sound during the halftime show kept going in and out. How long did they have to get that right? Clearly the sound-tech messed up. Big time.

I went. The game/show was actually pretty good. Wouldn't call it a failure by any means. Yeah, there were some glitches in presentation, but they hardly took away from the overall experience. Pretty impressive to be honest.

Now as to the logistics of getting to the game, yes that was a total pain in the arse. Gate security was a huge bottleneck at almost every gate, and there was no direction of where to go at all. We must've walked 15 miles game day trying to get from parking to the stadium and back. And as usual, Dallas wasn't ready for the snow they got and neither were the airlines. Our morning flight out of Cincy on Friday was canceled by AA without notice, but fortunately AA got us on a flight that evening out of Dayton, which worked out a lot better in the long run (weather in Dallas had improved, transportation wasn't sliding around as much, etc.). Now if my seat at the game had disappeared, it would be a whole other story. Those poor guys had it rough.

Here are some of pictures of the view from my perch above the field, and the good showing of my fellow Steelers fans. Enjoyed everything during the game, except the outcome of course.

 

[harshness]

The news out two days ago was that they were going to offer triple the face value.

We'll see if the class action provides sufficient deterrent.

 

[salsadancer7]

The NFL will not win this one....AND add the labor strife looming...this will NOT look good with the league going into negotiations for CBA as far as PR.

 

[Lkr]

now the NFL will give them a choice of ANY future Super Bowl instead of being limited to next season. Glad to see they took some of my advice

 

[Ramy]

Looks like those fans are going to sue the NFL.

Fans sue NFL, Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones over tix issues - ESPN

 

[Jimbo]

Looks like those fans are going to sue the NFL.

Fans sue NFL, Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones over tix issues - ESPN

Good luck with that ....

 

[SamCdbs]

This is why we really need class action reform.

The fact is that a ticket is a contract and the words on the back and in state law provide that the NFL could have just refunded the money. The NFL will fight this because it has to (say, one year, the Super Bowl gets moved because of a disaster on short notice, it does not want to be obligated to pay huge damages) and it will win.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

This is why we really need class action reform.

The fact is that a ticket is a contract and the words on the back and in state law provide that the NFL could have just refunded the money. The NFL will fight this because it has to (say, one year, the Super Bowl gets moved because of a disaster on short notice, it does not want to be obligated to pay huge damages) and it will win.

I don't know. I suspect the NFL would NOT want this to get to a jury. I say they will settle; covering actual expenses plus providing the refund and next year's ticket as they already offered. The whole thing is bad PR for them.

 

[Ramy]

I don't know. I suspect the NFL would NOT want this to get to a jury. I say they will settle; covering actual expenses plus providing the refund and next year's ticket as they already offered. The whole thing is bad PR for them.

I agree. It won't go to trial.

 

[HD MM]

I don't know. I suspect the NFL would NOT want this to get to a jury. I say they will settle; covering actual expenses plus providing the refund and next year's ticket as they already offered. The whole thing is bad PR for them.

And by the NFL (and others) caving in to frivolous lawsuits like this is part of the reason why everyone in the world who has some sort of misfortune (whatever the extent) thinks he/she can sue and get away with it.

 

[salsadancer7]

And by the NFL (and others) caving in to frivolous lawsuits like this is part of the reason why everyone in the world who has some sort of misfortune (whatever the extent) thinks he/she can sue and get away with it.

You think this is a frivolous lawsuit? How so?