NFL Lawsuit Calls Chicago Bears Rule Barring Visiting Team Apparel Unconstitutional

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The Chicago Bear Football Club Inc. and the National Football League been hit with a lawsuit alleging the team violates fans’ First Amendment rights by prohibiting them from wearing opposing teams’ clothing when attending on-field events.

Plaintiff Russell Beckman, a Green Bay Packers fan from Wisconsin, says he has a personal seat license for Chicago Bears games with five corresponding season tickets. As part of his status as a season ticket holder with the Chicago Bears, he and a companion were allowed to stand at the edge of the playing field to watch the pre-game warmups for the 2014 and 2015 season games between the Packers and the Bears, during which they wore Green Bay Packers apparel.

On July 13, 2016, Beckman says he received an email from the Chicago Bears informing him that he had “earned” 11 points that he could use to purchase an “experience,” as part of a new program it was launching. According to the Chicago Bears lawsuit, Beckman used the points to purchase three spots for the “pregame warm-up field experience” before the Dec. 18, 2016 game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.

The week before the game, Beckman says he received an email informing him of certain conditions regarding his participation in the pre-game warmup experience, including a notice that he would not be allowed to wear opposing team gear.

Concerned by this condition, Beckman contacted the Chicago Bears ticket office and staff by phone and email, informing them that he intended to wear his Packers apparel. According to the Chicago Bears lawsuit, he was informed that he would not be allowed to participate if he did so.

On game day, Beckman wore his Green Bay Packers apparel to the game and was denied participation in the experience, the Chicago Bears lawsuit says. His companions were not wearing any opposing team’s apparel, so they were allegedly allowed to participate.

Beckman subsequently wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking him to intervene and order the Chicago Bears to stop imposing the no-opposing-team-apparel rule in the future. According to the NFL lawsuit, he received no response.

Beckman says he received an email informing him that he has 12 points he can use to purchase “experiences” for the 2017 season, and after reading through the program details, he again found a prohibition against wearing visiting team clothing.

“Due to the prohibition that forbids wearing visiting team apparel while participating in this specific experience, the Bears have, without any compelling or reasonable cause, or Constitutionally mandated reason, deprived me of my ability to fully enjoy this specific on-field experience and the general experience of the Bears Packer game at Soldier Field,” Beckman says in the NFL lawsuit.

He has asked the court to order the Chicago Bears and the NFL to not enforce the rule during the 2017 season and in the future.

Beckman is representing himself.

The Chicago Bears Visiting Team Apparel Lawsuit is Beckman, et al. v. Chicago Bear Football Club Inc., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-04551, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Dec. 12, 2018, a Green Bay Packers fan recently told a federal judge that he shouldn’t be barred from the Chicago Bears sideline warmup program because of his apparel.