Pro Football Hall of Fame, NFL fans settle lawsuit over game that never happened

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Update:  

• The Pro Football Hall of Fame has agreed to a $750,000 settlement with a class of NFL fans who bought tickets to see the 2016 Hall of Fame game, which ended up not taking place.
• The settlement will compensate NFL fans for the price of their tickets, air, train, bus fare, lodging, ground transportation and parking for the canceled event. 
• The 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame game was scheduled to be between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts, but it was canceled last minute as a result of poor field conditions. 
• The NFL fans argued game organizers at the stadium ushered fans in and encouraged them to make purchases of food, drinks and merchandise, despite knowing the field conditions would not allow for the game to be played. 

(Dec. 2, 2020)

The proposed class in a lawsuit lodged over the cancelation of the 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game has been certified by an Ohio federal judge.

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher A. Boyko agreed to certify the plaintiff’s class including those who had tickets to the 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game; however, the class is limited to liability claims. In addition, those who accepted reimbursement from the National Football League for their 2016 tickets are excluded from the Class, according to the court order.

Lead plaintiff, Carmelo Treviso, filed the class action lawsuit against the NFL after the 2016 game was abruptly canceled due to field conditions. Reportedly, last minute attempts to dry logos on the fake turf resulted in a sticky mess that was unsafe for play.

Treviso alleged that NFL officials knew that the game would need to be cancelled, but he and other fans were allowed into the stadium to drum up merchandise, and food and drink sales. The game was canceled mere minutes before the scheduled kickoff.

In addition to reimbursement for items purchased at the stadium, the NFL Hall of Fame Game class action lawsuit sought damages for time and money ticketholders spent getting to the game. The lead plaintiffs alleged that they had spent money on travel and accommodations for the highly anticipated game that takes place each year during the same weekend as the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

The class action lawsuit has taken several years to wind its way through the court system, reportedly bouncing from California to an Ohio court. In addition, the plaintiffs’ previous attempt to certify a proposed class was rejected by the Court in 2018.

The football fans submitted an amended motion for class certification, excluding ticketholders who had obtained refunds from the NFL.

Indeed, in 2016 shortly after the complaint was filed, the NFL offered ticketholders refunds for the cancelled Hall of Fame Game, but on the condition that they do not take part in the class action lawsuit or any other legal action regarding the cancelation.

“While the court previously determined that the highly individualized nature of damages precluded class certification, a liability-only class issue concerning whether each [C]lass [M]ember suffered a breach of contract for which they are entitled to damages presents a common question that predominates over thousands of minitrials on the identical question, making this [C]lass amenable to class certification for resolution of this particular issue,” concluded Judge Boyko in his order.

The NFL was dropped as a defendant in the class action lawsuit in 2017. The remaining defendant, the Hall of Fame, argued that the proposed class definition was still not sufficient and would require thousands of “minitrials” to determine each class member’s damages. The Hall of Fame also pointed to discrepancies between language on different types of tickets to the game.

“The Court agrees with Plaintiff that the above ticket languages are not so dissimilar as to subject each [C]lass [M]ember to a separate inquiry on liability,” Judge Boyko concluded. “Rather, a breach of one would be a breach of all.”

The judge also dispensed of an argument by the Hall of Fame that ticketholders who did not go to the game were included in the proposed class, but should be barred from making a claim.

“At this point in the litigation, a ticket purchaser who did not attend the game would most likely be unable to assert a breach of contract claim unless he or she was denied a refund after requesting one,” acknowledged the order.

“However, because the Court may alter the class definition at any time, should discovery demonstrate that [M]embers of the putative [C]lass did not attend the game and suffered no injury, the Court may alter the class definition at a later time after fact discovery and motion practice on the merits.”

Did you have tickets to the 2016 NFL Hall of Fame Game? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.

The lead plaintiff and certified class members are represented by Romney Cullers of The Becker Law Firm and Ahmed Ibrahim of AI Law.

The NFL Hall of Fame game class action lawsuit is Carmelo Treviso et al. v. National Football Museum Inc. d/b/a Pro Football Hall of Fame, Case No. 5:17-cv-00472, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

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