[Elvis]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14619 ... s-la-seats

Lawsuit filed against Rams over access to seats in L.A.

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- A second lawsuit has been filed over the Rams' move to Los Angeles, this time by holders of personal seat licenses who say they should retain their right to seat licenses and season tickets, even in California.

The suit said the PSL agreement in St. Louis granted holders "the right to purchase season tickets for the assigned seats for each and every football season through the year 2025,'' but did not stipulate that the games had to be played in St. Louis.


A second lawsuit has been filed over the Rams' move to Los Angeles, this one by personal seat license holders. AP Photo/L.G. Patterson
"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. He is representing his brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Sue Bohm, along with Edward Mock and Envision LLC, an IT consulting firm and staffing agency that bought six PSLs for $27,000.

The suit seeks class-action status for more than 30,000 PSL holders who retained licenses as of the 2015 season. The suit was filed last week in St. Louis County. Messages seeking comment Thursday from the Rams were not returned.

NFL owners voted Jan. 12 to allow the Rams to relocate to Los Angeles starting next season. The move returns the team to the city it called home before it moved to St. Louis in 1995.

Though it might seem unlikely that St. Louis-area fans would travel nearly 2,000 miles for football games, reselling the PSLs or season tickets could be lucrative. The Rams said Wednesday that they collected more than 45,000 season ticket deposits in just two days. The team plans to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next season and move into owner Stan Kroenke's planned Inglewood stadium in 2019.

A suit filed earlier this month on behalf of St. Louis Rams fans alleged that Kroenke and chief operating officer Kevin Demoff deceived fans by claiming the team had no intention of leaving, while plotting the move all along. That suit said the deception violated Missouri's Merchandising Practices Act.

[RedAlice]

I am starting to so enjoy this.

[kayfabe]

Without passing too much judgment...here's an article that tries to make the case that Rams PSL owners have the legal right to use existing PSLs when buying LA Season seats.

And I'm no attorney but the article seems to brush by the fact that --

* Most PSLs are bought on the secondary market nowadays, from places like http://www.pslsource.com. Which coincidentally doesn't have/took down their link to the St. Louis Rams. And the secondary market really fluctuates and actually DOES depend on the record of the team the year prior. So I'm not sure in the below article -- when quoting Rams PSL prices -- they're actually using the price originally paid or what the secondary market is offering, which has gotta be a fraction of what the prices were during the GSOT days.

* Not sure what the Rams actual PSL language is: the article below points out that you can "Buy PSLs from a current season ticket holder & become the new season ticket holder for those exact seats for all future seasons." So what if Stan just renumbers his stadium to start with, say, Row 1001 on the bottom tier, Row 2001 on the next, that might be good enough to circumvent the current language I suppose.

* I'm pretty sure ESK has thought of what to do about this already, the article sort of implies it too...

http://www.thepostgame.com/daily-take/2 ... tadium-nfl

Case For St. Louis Rams PSL Holders to Buy L.A. Season Tickets
By: Michael Kernan 9d

The Rams are the first NFL team to move in the PSL era. What does that mean for PSL holders? Can St. Louis PSL holders buy tickets to Rams games in Los Angeles? Does the PSL move with the team?

Here is some background on PSL for context: Sports teams constantly need to find ways to innovate and make money. One in recent times has been the personal seat license, or PSL.

It is an agreement that entitles the holder to the right to buy season tickets to their team. Like all contracts, the language of the agreement is the starting place. But the Rams organization have done a few things that would suggest that PSL holders in St. Louis may have a decent argument that they can buy season tickets in Los Angeles.

The PSL is the right to buy Rams season tickets. It is transferable, meaning the holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. But it is the buying of season tickets that dictates control: This means if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and does not renew the season tickets, the holder forfeits the license back to the team. Note, the license does not go back to the stadium.

The Rams say the PSL is a right to buy for "all future seasons."

According to the St. Louis Rams, the PSL is the right to buy season tickets to Rams games. It states that fans can:

"Buy PSLs from a current season ticket holder & become the new season ticket holder for those exact seats for all future seasons."

It is unclear when the language of "those exact seats" was added, and if it was added after the Rams began looking at moving. We reached out to the Rams for comment on this issue, and they did not respond to questions of when the language was added, if it was added or why it was added.

Note, this representation is being made, technically, by a Rams agent, "STR Marketplace," who according to its own website "builds and operates team-branded websites in partnership with professional sports teams." Regardless, in the law, they would have ostensible authority.

Note that it does not state all future seasons that the Rams play in the Edward Jones Dome. Thus, if you are a Rams PSL holder, and if Row 1, Seats 10 and 11 are your tickets, can you buy Row 1, Seats 10 and 11 at the new Rams stadium in Los Angeles?

The Rams first sold a PSL when they moved to St. Louis in 1995, but their initial games were not even played at the stadium currently known as Edward Jones Dome. Those were played at Busch Stadium (the St. Louis Cardinals baseball stadium). The Rams did not play a game in the stadium known as Edward Jones Dome until November 12, 1995. This would be evidence that the PSL is tied to the Rams themselves and not the particular structure.

Why is it a big deal?

In St. Louis, 46,000 fans paid between $250 and $4,500 for PSLs. Whether they can buy tickets in Los Angeles with that PSL is a big deal, because the value of the PSL, much like the value of the franchise, will increase astronomically in a move to Los Angeles.

According to Business Insider, the Rams owner Stan Kroenke would see his team rise in value from $930 million to around $3.5 billion, and possibly as high as $5 billion.

Shouldn't the purchasers of Rams PSLs, loyal Rams fans who bought season tickets and who are losing their team, also participate in that success? When the Rams move, there is a case they have a legal obligation to share that success with their PSL holders in St. Louis. And there is certainly a moral obligation to do so.

When they move, the Rams should allow PSL holders to sell their PSLs on the open market to the highest bidder in Los Angeles. Or, the Rams should buy back the PSLs from the massive increase in money the Rams are making from the move. And the NFL, in the spirit of the NFL, should make them make it so.

[bubbaramfan]

Put them all in the nose bleed seats on the rim of the colesium. They will count as a sellout so the game will be televised.

[Hacksaw]

Their plan is to buy them, then not show up (again) and proclaim that the LA fans don't deserve the team all in hopes they will come back to the Loo. bwahhaahhaa !!!

BTW bubba. The NFL lifted the blackout rule.

[ramfaninsd]

looks like the rams covered their ass.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -lawsuits/

[ramsman34]

Lawsuits are just gonna drive ticket prices up for all of us if any significant money is spent by the RAMS dealing with said suits. I am glad I flew to STL multiple times, bought Rams tix, attended games, patronized your hotels, restaurants, rental car agencies, etc.

[RamsFanSince82]

Lawsuits are just gonna drive ticket prices up for all of us if any significant money is spent by the RAMS dealing with said suits. I am glad I flew to STL multiple times, bought Rams tix, attended games, patronized your hotels, restaurants, rental car agencies, etc.

It won't happen. The joke lawsuits will be quickly thrown out.

[Stranger]

looks like the rams covered their ass.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -lawsuits/

“Licensee acknowledges that this Agreement remains valid only as long as NFL football is played at the Stadium by the Rams, up to a maximum of thirty (30) years. Licensee acknowledges that Licensee has no claim against the Rams with respect to this [PSL] and/or its termination whatsoever. Licensee understands and acknowledges the possibility that the Rams may not play its gams in the Stadium or St. Louis for the entire term contemplated by this License. Licensee expressly agrees not to sue the Rams for damages or injunctive relief relates to this [PSL], including without limitation should the Rams not play its home games in the Stadium or in St. Louis for any reason.”

[OldSchool]

I said it at ROD what gets me with this lawsuit, is these same people were willing to pay for new PSL's and never threatened to sue Peacock or the CVC. It was in their financing plan from day one, they even called it public money, to pay for part of the stadium with PSL purchases. What did they think they were going to count money from EJD PSL sales? But once the Rams move out come the lawsuits for something they embraced when it was done by St Louis and not Stan.