Bengals Bite Fans

Season ticket holders for the long-hapless Cincinnati Bengals have sometimes talked about suing the team — maybe for fraud, in claiming to be an NFL team — but with the surprising Bengals now undefeated at 4-0, the shoe is on the other foot.  It’s the Bengals who are suing their fans.

Seems that to finance the team’s $458 million stadium, it sold “seat licenses” to fans, which entitled them to buy season tickets.  A seat license sold for $150, and each license allowed the owner to buy a season ticket, which ran for $1,000 to $2,000.  When some fans decided to stop buying tickets and thus forfeit their licenses, the Bengals sued, claiming that the fans were obligated to keep buying tickets.  One issue in the case is whether materials sent to season ticket holders after purchase of the tickets count as terms of the agreement.

[Frank Snyder — hat tip to Bill Sjostrom (Northern Kentucky)]