NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The NFL and the New York Giants and Jets say the class action lawsuit that asks for $6 billion because they play in New Jersey is “frivolous” and should subject the lawyer to sanctions.
The statements come in the likely final brief for a federal judge to consider before deciding on the defendants’ motion to dismiss. The NFL, Giants, Jets and New Meadowlands Stadium Company filed their reply on May 16, eight days after attorney Evan Spencer submitted his opposition to their motion to dismiss.
“Plaintiffs’ opposition merely confirms the amended complaint’s claims are frivolous and sanctionable,” the NFL defendants say.
“The opposition fails to address almost all the dismissal arguments raised in the motion – instead it anecdotally vents about the time and costs of traveling to games (which any fan would incur no matter where the teams play), and the appropriateness of the Meadowlands in New Jersey as a site for any stadium because of its purported use as a site for waste disposal years ago.”
The case alleges the NFL, Giants, Jets and Meadowlands Stadium Company use the New York brand to attract fans, then force them to drive all the way to New Jersey to watch games.
“(T)he truth is that even if MetLife stadium is ‘only’ seven miles away from Manhattan, fans do not fly like the crows (or swim like the fishes), and this allegedly seven-mile metropolitan ride took Plaintiffs four hours roundtrip, by public and private transport,” Spencer wrote in his opposition to the motion to dismiss.
Spencer’s lawsuit claims the defendants knew the importance of keeping the New York market loyal to the Giants and Jets after they moved to a stadium in New Jersey decades ago. It says they “artificially increased the revenue and value” of the franchises by using the “New York’ brand.
No reasonable consumer would believe the teams play anywhere other than East Rutherford, N.J., the NFL’s reply says.
“Courts routinely dismiss false advertising and deceptive practices claims on the pleadings under these circumstances,” it adds. “Plaintiffs’ arguments, to the contrary, ask the court to analyze Plaintiffs’ claims from the perspective of the least sophisticated consumer.
“But that is precisely what the case law says this court cannot do.”
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.