|
 Ticketmaster and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) were hit with a class-action lawsuit today, claiming the two organizations violated racketeering laws by forcing ticket purchasers to pay a non-refundable fee to enter what the lawsuit claims is an illegal lottery for the right to purchase tickets to high-profile sporting events including college basketball tournament games.
"The NCAA and Ticketmaster have come up with a scheme that would make a Vegas bookie blush," said Rob Carey, partner at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, and the attorney representing the named plaintiff. "We will show that this NCAA practice has illegally taken millions of dollars out of consumers' pockets."
Ticketmaster, an operating division of InterActiveCorp, was named in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California, along with defendant NCAA. The defendants are located in California and Indiana, two states in which lotteries are illegal unless run by the state or licensed charities.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants have created two types of lotteries, one for the preliminary rounds and one for the "Final Four," the final three games of the extraordinarily popular college basketball playoff held each spring.
Fans who want to purchase face-value tickets to preliminary-round NCAA basketball games must participate in a lottery by sending in an application requesting up to eight tickets, the suit says. Applicants must pre-pay the full ticket price for all the games in that round, along with a $10 "service fee" to take part in the lottery.
According to the suit, if the applicant wins the lottery, the NCAA releases the tickets, but if the applicant is not selected, the NCAA refunds only the ticket price while pocketing the fee.
According to Carey, Final Four fans are required to submit an application to purchase tickets, but each application can include up to 10 entries, each requiring a separate $6 entry fee -- dubbed a "handling fee" by the NCAA -- along with full payment for all 20 tickets.
"The rub is that if one of your entries is selected, your other nine are null and void, but the other nine entry fees go right into the pockets of the NCAA and Ticketmaster."
The lawsuit seeks to represent all fans that submitted an application for tickets to an NCAA championship tournament -- including women's basketball and men's hockey -- and paid a fee to enter a drawing for the right to purchase one or more tickets from 1998 until the present.
The lawsuit lists several charges against the NCAA and Ticketmaster including violations under the state and federal RICO Acts based on gambling violations, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy. Additional counts against the NCAA include violations of the Indiana Consumer Protection Act and monies had and received.
Tempe, Arizona resident Tom George is the named plaintiff in the case. George is an avid college basketball fan, and has participated in the NCAA lottery for a number of years.
OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK
|
