The People Vs. Jerry Jones

We'll concede that the Packers winning the Super Bowl was the biggest story on Sunday.

The plight of the 400 displaced fans who were left without seats is a close runner-up, though. The remarkable failure of the NFL and the Cowboys to deal with a situation that should have been handled well before gameday generated so much news and these people were dealt such a raw deal that we won't forget about it anytime soon. The fact that they were compensated with three times the face value of the seats, a visit to the field after the game and tickets to next year's game (so far, as we're not convinced the Oprah-style giveaway train is over yet) makes up for much of their grief.  

It also likely inspires others to get their own piece of the pie. Not surprisingly, some of those people have law degrees. Eagen Avenatti, LLP released a statement Tuesday letting the world know that they are looking into a lawsuit against Jerry Jones and the Cowboys for engaging in deceptive sales practices.

It has nothing to do with the 400, either. It has to do with a group of Cowboys personal seat license owners who are upset about the seats they purchased to the game. They were promised a chance to buy face value seats to the game to help get them to part with at least $100,000 for a PSL and are upset that they wound up spending $1,200 for what wound up being temporary seats with obstructed views of the field and no view of the video board.

"These season ticket holders are rightfully irate at Jones and the Cowboys," said lead attorney Michael Avenatti.  "Jones sold the very fans that helped finance the construction of the stadium on the idea of attending the Super Bowl, took their money, and then put them in illegitimate seats with obstructed views. What team or owner on the planet would treat its best fans like this?"

Jones might be guilty of treating these people like crap, but that's very different than being guilty of deceptive sales practices. The statement is pretty vague when it comes to just what kind of seats these people were promised as part of the sales pitch, something that makes you wonder just how much of this was based on their assumptions (or their jealousy at what those 400 other souls received) rather than legally binding promises. You probably know which matter more in a court of law.

If all the Cowboys promised was a chance to buy a seat at face value within the stadium, it's hard to see where the deception took place. We'll see how things play out, but we remember hearing something about let the buyer beware from our parents. It was pretty decent advice, especially if you're trusting a sports team owner to treat you fairly.

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