Harold Oshinsky, Giants season ticket holder for 30 years, was upset about the “personal seat licenses” (PSLs) that he and other fans had to buy in order to purchase Giants and Jets season tickets.
So he has sued both the Giants and the Jets.
According to a story on the Bloomberg website, the complaint filed by Oshinsky states that New York Giants and Jets “fixed the prices for PSLs and 2010 season tickets at artificial, supra-competitive prices that were established by defendants to maximize near-term revenue and profits.” The same story quotes Andrew Friedman, attorney for Oshinsky, as saying “the licenses unfairly require fans to buy season tickets regardless of the price through at least 2025 and can be taken away without reimbursement.”
A story on the National Post website states that these PSLs can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000. This is a one-time payment. PSLs can be revoked by the Giants or Jets if fans do not buy season tickets after 2010.
Basically, the point of the lawsuit is to eliminate the PSLs, thus allowing fans to purchase Giants and Jets season tickets on a year-by-year basis without having to pay any additional fee in order to do so.
With the economy as bad as it is, I found the thought of PSLs to be rather ridiculous and almost insulting to die-hard Giants and Jets fans. With that said, the two teams are brilliant to have them as a money-making tool because, quite frankly, people will pay for the PSLs. The only way PSLs are going to go away is if all Giants and Jets fans refuse to pay for them. Unfortunately, if one person were to not pay for his PSL, it is almost guaranteed that the seat and the PSL that comes with it would immediately be grabbed by a fellow football fan.
As for the lawsuit, I find it hard to believe that the Giants and Jets would not have carefully looked into the legality of having PSLs before implementing them. For what it's worth, the Bloomberg story quotes spokesmen for the Jets and the Giants, both claiming that the PSLs are indeed legal.
Comments
Well, this is interesting.
Good luck with this one, I have a hard time believing teams involved in a billion dollar industry do not have all of their bases covered.
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