NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The NFL says a lawsuit seeking billions of dollars because the New York Giants and Jets play their home games in New Jersey is not a productive use of the court’s time.
The NFL, Giants, Jets and MetLife Stadium Company on March 21 filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by plaintiff Abdiell Suero and his lawyer, Evan Spencer. Their lawsuit claims the defendants knew the importance of keeping the New York market loyal to the teams after they moved to a stadium in New Jersey decades ago.
It says they “artificially increased the revenue and value” of the franchises by billions by using the “New York” brand.
“Defendants have never represented that the stadium is located anywhere other than New Jersey,” the motion to dismiss counters. “Nor is the New York component of the teams’ names understood to identify the location of the teams’ stadium. Indeed, Plaintiff himself alleges that the geographic components of NFL teams’ names refer to their hometowns.
“Plaintiff’s attempt to nonetheless manufacture false advertising, deceptive practice, civil RICO and unjust enrichment claims arising from the Giants’ and Jets’ continuing use of New York names following their well-known moves to New Jersey nearly half-a-century ago fails under well-established New York and federal law.
“Defendants do not believe this case has any merit or is a productive use of the court’s valuable resources and time…”
The lawsuit says many NFL fans who attend Giants or Jets games for the first time are unaware their stadium is in New Jersey.
Class members have suffered damages by needing to secure “expensive and time-consuming transportation” from NYC to East Rutherford for games, the suit claims. Class members pay $16 in tolls and $40 to park, the suit says, while ride-sharing companies charge $400 or more.
There is also emotional and psychological damage caused by the New York brand, the suit says.
“Sports fandom is linked to higher levels of well-being and general happiness with one’s social life as well as lower levels of loneliness and alienation,” the suit says.
“Plaintiff and the class of Giants and Jets fans lost their connection with the teams when they relocated to New Jersey and maintain minimal sports identification with the Giants and Jets due to their stadium being located in New Jersey.
“As Giants and Jets fans, Plaintiff and the class are insulted, ridiculed, harassed, tormented and bullied by NFL fans around the United States due to the affiliation of the Giants and Jets with the State of New York rather than their true home, New Jersey.”
The lawsuit makes claims for false advertising, deceptive practices, civil racketeering, unjust enrichment and conspiracy. Its goals are:
-An order requiring the Giants or Jets to find a spot in New York in which to play in 2025, when their MetLife contracts or up;
-An order requiring them to change their names to “New Jersey” while they play home games there;
-Monetary damages of $2 billion and additional punitive damages of $4 billion, with a minimum of $50 per class member; and
-Attorneys fees.
The Giants/Jets case isn’t Spencer’s first big swing in court. He sought $1.5 billion in a 2013 lawsuit against Match.com, IAC/InteractiveCorp and People Media.
The suit claimed those defendants were illegally using class members’ photographs in “hundreds if not thousands of fraudulent profiles posted on several of the 25 dating sites owned and operated by the defendants.”
The defendants knowingly conspired with criminals in internet cafes in Nigeria, Ghana and Russia who created the fake profiles, the suit claimed.
Ultimately, New York federal judge Jesse Furman threw the case out, brought by a company called Meltech that owned the rights to images of model and adult film actress Melissa Harrington, also known as Melissa Midwest and Melissa Lincoln.