Seahawks, NFL Getting Sued For $50 Million

It’s not just a coincidence that we didn’t see much red bleeding through the masses of blue and green in the stands of CenturyLink Field back in the NFC Championship game when the 49ers played in Seattle. While it would be normal to see more fans clad in Seahawks colors versus 49er red, due to the fact the game was played in Seattle, there was a legitimate reason other than locale for why the red was missing.

According to Cbssports.com

Another reason 49ers fans weren’t there though is because the Seahawks didn’t want them there: The team restricted ticket sales to only the fans who had a credit card billing address in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Alaska or Hawaii — and Canada. Let’s not forget Canada. Canadians could buy tickets too.

Apparently this didn’t sit right with a Nevada state resident, who was restricted from purchasing a ticket. John E. Williams III is suing the NFL for $50 million ($10 million for punitive damages and $40 million for real damages) due to the league using a selective ticket process, which is a violation of law.

Further reported by Cbssports.com

From the lawsuit, which was filed in a US District Court in Las Vegas.

The practice of withholding the sale of tickets from the public at large and allowing only credit card holders limited to certain areas is a violation of the Federal Consumer Fraud Act and/or common law.

That’s a ton of money and it will definitely be interesting to see what the outcome is for this seriously disgruntled 49er fan, who even claims that Seattle fixed the game.

Someone who didn’t have major heartburn over the restricted ticket sales was 49ers coach, Jim Harbaugh, who stated back in January that he understood the Seahawks decision. Looking at this in retrospect, I would think most 49ers who wanted to attend that game would have been relieved at the end of that night that they saved several hundreds of dollars in ticket and traveling expenses.

If for some reason this lawsuit proves successful for the plaintiff, then irritated Patriots fans might want to dial their lawyer, because Denver restricted ticket sales for the AFC Championship game to their fans in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and western Kansas.

Obviously, views on this multi-million dollar lawsuit vary. Is it insanely ridiculous, or should the NFL pay up, or settle if proven a law was broken?

Photo: Kyle Terada, USA Today Sports