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It’s been a very good week for the New England Patriots.
After learning that former video employee Matt Walsh knows nothing about the videotaping of the Rams’ walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI and after having the Boston Herald retract its story that the Patriots videotaped the Rams’ walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, the Pats have won a victory in court.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the team may collect more than $65,000 from a fan who defaulted on a ten-year contract to buy tickets to games at Gillette Stadium. Under the agreement, the purchaser agreed that the full amount of the unpaid tickets would be paid if the purchaser defaulted on the agreement to buy the tickets.
The high court in Massachusetts found that the so-called “liquidated damages” clause was enforceable because it wasn’t a penalty. Though we haven’t studied the opinion yet (and don’t plan to do so until confronted with our next bout of insomnia), the requirement that the fan pay for tickets that presumably were sold to someone else flies in the face of the concept of mitigation of damages.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
What the hell does all that mean, and why should I care?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
wow… that might help pay 1/86th of Brady’s weekly salary….
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Rating: 3.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
PFT. Patriot Football Talk.com
Florio, you collecting checks from Kraft?
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
It means that not only are they getting $65,000, they also get to resell the tickets on top of it. The IRS should get involved for double dipping. There has to be a offical misconduct in there somewhere.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
As a matter of practice, if they don’t enforce their rights under contract now, when they have a waiting list for season ticket sales, how could they enforce it later, when Brady is gone and they’re in the cellar again? Can I break an apartment lease just because the landlord can find another tenant in a tight housing market? So much for mitigation damages.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Why did the dude buy tickets he couldn’t afford?
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May 15th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I was goign to send you an email today to ask what happened with that case! The result and judgement sucks and shame on the Pats for forcing the guy to pay it.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
how is this a good week. Walsh came out and blatantly said the entire organization has been video taping and showing him how to not get caught. Not to mention the shame the patriots have brought to the NFL through the daily lying about not knowing who Mat Walsh is. It seems with the Patriots you guys have already started defending them when there isn’t anything to defend. They have no honor with ANY of their wins and destroyed the games reputation with their constant weekly/yearly/decade cheating. This is pathetic.
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May 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Doesn’t that make the Patriots 22-1?
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May 15th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
MarkB, a Passionate Fan, says:
May 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
As a matter of practice, if they don’t enforce their rights under contract now, when they have a waiting list for season ticket sales, how could they enforce it later, when Brady is gone and they’re in the cellar again? Can I break an apartment lease just because the landlord can find another tenant in a tight housing market? So much for mitigation damages.
That is correct and it further stops other Premium Ticket holders from abandoning their contracts thinking they will just lose their security deposits (still a significant amount). The guy apparently never intended to meet the obligations of the contract given that he abandoned it after the first year. However, the Pats certainly could have worked with him to transfer the seats to someone that was willing to pay for them. The fact that they are taking the hard position says that they either wanted to send a message and set a precedent or they are just bullies.
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May 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
That brings the list of Pats fans that were fans prior to 2000 down to 4!
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May 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
This is classless. The fans are the whole reason these owners make so much money, and yet they are going to stick this guy for liquidated damages when they could have easily re-sold these tickets to one of the gazillion people on the season ticket waiting list? Shameless. And this is on Kraft, no one else.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
I cannot see how this is a win for the Pats. Most teams don’t even offer a 10 year option because they know the likelihood of someone even being able to afford such a plan consistently is not good. What if he loses his job or gets hit by a train? What if he dies? Are they gonna sue his surviving family? So they make a public stink (as if they are the victim ~ as if they are hurting for cash) that openly screws the little guy and makes them look even more heartless and cold than they already do. This is not a good PR move at all.
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May 15th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
VeggieBurgher, a Passionate Fan, says:
May 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
This is classless. The fans are the whole reason these owners make so much money, and yet they are going to stick this guy for liquidated damages when they could have easily re-sold these tickets to one of the gazillion people on the season ticket waiting list? Shameless. And this is on Kraft, no one else.
Just to clarify the facts, these are Club Seats and are considered Premium Seating (Club Level and Luxury Boxes are included). There is no waiting list for Premium Seats but there seems to be a steady stream of interest. I am sure that they could have and probably did find a buyer eventually.
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May 15th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Karma dear Patriots…Karma
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May 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Who would want to be a fan of this team right now anyway?
That is why they sued him, because they are going to be worth a little less now that the Cheatriots don’t have the super signal stealing system edge.
Can’t the guy just sell the tickets himself instead of paying for nothing?
Boo.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Another win?
When the truth shows that the franchise is the biggest embarassenment in the history of the National Football League.
When the quarterback shows his true colors as a cry baby about media coverage?
When your “genius” coach is shown as just a dirty cheating liar?
Only some misinformed homer would feel that this week was a week of wins.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 15th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Jeremiah W, a Head Coach, says:
May 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Who would want to be a fan of this team right now anyway?
That is why they sued him, because they are going to be worth a little less now that the Cheatriots don’t have the super signal stealing system edge.
Can’t the guy just sell the tickets himself instead of paying for nothing?
Boo.
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As far as selling the tickets himself, those seats, being Premium Seats in the Club section sell for a significant amount of money. I believe his were in the area that costs $15k per year for 4 seats.
Even if the Pats let him sell them, I doubt he’d be able to sell them all and make his money back.
The regular seats are priced reasonable like normal tickets to any sporting event but the Premium Seats are very expensive. They were designed to pay for the Stadium over the course of 10 years (to cover the 10 year loan).
As per the rest, You call them Cheatriots I call you Hatriots. Where does that get us? Will we ever get over the childish instigating BS on this blog?
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May 15th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
God must be a pats fan… God is Great!
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May 15th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
hey mike,you sitting on the sideline in this debate
is compleately wrong.being an attorney,you should
step forward and shed some light on the dos and don’ts
of contract law.
when you enter a contract,it is assumed that uphold it.
a contract is made to be upheld not disregarded.
the guy that lost the suit in court has no recourse,he
did not live up to his end of the bargin i.e. contract.
why do people portray the guy who violated the contract
as a victim?i don’t get it.the way some of these people
are reacting to the verdict,you would think robert kraft
went over to their homes and stole their children’s food.
my god!!!
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May 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
mitigation does not apply in all situations - just because you recovered from some other way, or can, doesn’t give someone the right to just break or violate a contract. I don’t know about this exact ruling, but to play devil’s advocate, had the court ruled against the Patriots, it basically would allow any ticket holder of any team with a large fan base, to break any contract they signed, because obviously the team could always mitigate. It would make contract terms for season ticket holders worthless.
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May 15th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
It Was A Fumble.
-Charles Woodson
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May 16th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Wow, just took my Contracts exam two weeks ago. Thanks for helping me re-live it.
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