NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The lawyer suing the NFL and its two New York City-based teams for billions of dollars because they play in New Jersey has given up on his racketeering claims.
Lawyer Evan Spencer filed an amended complaint in April that adds a plaintiff while making new claims for fraudulent misrepresentation and negligence.
Dropped were actions for civil racketeering, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy.
“As Defendants’ original motion to dismiss made clear, these claims are calculated to score points in the headlines – not the courtroom,” the defendants’ April 25 motion to dismiss the amended complaint says.
“In fact, Plaintiffs’ sequel is no better than the original. Despite the amendment, Plaintiffs’ claims have not gotten more plausible – they are even less so.”
The lawsuit against the NFL, New York Giants, New York Jets and MetLife Stadium Company claims they 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.
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.”
-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.
“Plaintiffs fail to allege that Defendants ever represented that the Giants' and Jets' home stadium is located in New York,” the motion to dismiss says.
“Instead, the Complaint alleges just the opposite - that Defendants openly ‘advertise the time it takes to travel from the State of New York to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.’ This is also fatal to Plaintiffs' false advertising and deceptive practices claims and a defect that cannot be cured by further amendment.”
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.