More Bad News For Seasons Ticket Holders

One issue in the dispute, discussed below, betweenWashington Redskins fans and the team is the team’s duty to mitigate damageswhen it resells tickets reclaimed from defaulting seasons ticket holders.  Some of the Redskins fanned interviewedfor the Washington Post story decriedas “double dipping” the Redskins’ practice of collecting full damages forunused tickets and then reselling the tickets and collecting again. 

Alas, as reported in ConnecticutSports Law, in NPS, LLC v. Minihane, 451Mass. 417 (2008), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court enforced aliquidated damages clause in a ten-year agreement for club-level seats at NewEngland Patriots games.  Thedefendant in that case was ordered to pay damages for the full value of theten-year contract, although he had only used the seats for one year.  The trial court had struck down theliquidated damages clause as “grossly disproportionate to a reasonable estimateof actual damages made at the time of contract formation.”

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reversed, based ona finding that the damages would have been difficult to ascertain at the timethe parties entered into the contract and that the liquidated damages clause representeda “reasonable forecast of the damages expected to occur in the event of abreach.”  The court reasoned thatthe team could not predict in advance how long it would take them to resell theseats.  In light of the benefitdefendant would have enjoyed of having guaranteed seats for ten years withoutthe threat of a price increase, the court found that the damages clause was not“unconscionably excessive.”  Oncethe liquidated damages clause was found to be enforceable, mitigation evidencewas deemed irrelevant. 

[Jeremy Telman – HT again! Zachary Calo]