As the NFL shifted to new stadiums and configurations of old ones, it jumped in to the deep end of a new way to make money for the team — personal seat license fees for season ticket holders. A PSL would allow the holder the right to buy season tickets for a specific seat in a stadium, itself transferrable if the holder no longer wanted to buy tickets.
For the St. Louis Rams, it was part of how the team has acted since it began playing at the Edward Jones Dome. With the team off to Los Angeles immediately, many of those season ticket holders who have forked over thousands of dollars just for the right to buy said season tickets are feeling left high and dry.
Some of them aren’t taking the move lying down though, as Fox Sports is reporting that group of St. Louis fans are suing the franchise for the same rights to seats in Los Angeles.
The basic gist of the suit comes down to the language used in the agreement created by purchasing the PSL’s — many of which have an agreement in writing until the year 2025. However, the agreement never had the specific language stating the rights were only for St. Louis and not anywhere the Rams were calling home.
“It’s our position that the PSL holders should be allowed to either purchase tickets in L.A., or to transfer their PSLs to those who want to purchase season tickets in L.A.,” said attorney David Bohm.
The suit is looking in to class-action status as there were 30,000 personal seat license holders for the St. Louis Rams as of the 2015 season.
One of the plantiffs is Envision LLC, an IT consulting firm and staffing agency, who had bought six PSL’s for $27,000 (or $4,500 per seat).
Why sue for a right to a team that will be playing some 2,000 miles away?
The answer may be in the reported 45,000 initial deposits for tickets in Los Angeles just this past week alone. Winning would mean the right to either re-sell the PSL’s or the season tickets to those who would want them.
No ruling has come down on the lawsuit and no timetable exists for it either.
