Sports Business Digest » Spygate…honestly, its a little out of hand.

Spygate…honestly, its a little out of hand.

Posted on September 28th, 2007. Written by Emmett Jones.

Thought you were done with spygate, didn’t you? thought you’d never see this great picture again?

yeah…you’d be wrong. Its really out of hand now though. Why? because a Jets fan, attorney Carl Mayer of Princetown Township, N.J. has filed a class action lawsuit against Bill Belichick and the Patriots for “deceiving customers”. Mayer’s lawyer in the matter, Bruce Afran, was quoted as saying,

“They violated the integrity of the game…This is a way of punishing Belichick and the Patriots.”

Mayer’s lawsuit maintains that because teams other than the Jets have found or believed that the Patriots have illegally taped NFL games, that Jets ticket holders should be compensated for any game played between the Jets and Patriots since Belichick became the Patriots coach in 2000. I know, i know, some of you might be doubting the merit of this lawsuit. Rest easy though…once you hear about how much money they’re suing for, your fears will be assuaged.

“The two calculated that because customers paid $61.6 million to watch eight “fraudulent” games, they’re entitled to triple that amount — or $184.8 million — in compensation under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.”

$184.8 million. I just love that. Especially when they have absolutely no proof, save for the one game. Because nothing says unnecessary lawsuit like rumor and hearsay. They do attempt to act like they have the fans best interests at heart though…

“How many times have the Patriots done this? We find it hard to believe they did it just once,” Mayer said. “We just want to get to the truth of the matter of what the Patriots did to the Jets. I think the ticket holders are genuinely concerned about it. This is a type of misrepresentation.”

Good to see they’re only worried about the integrity of the game of football.

Now, i haven’t read all of RICO or the deceptive business practices act, but it really seems like this lawsuit is giving us lawyers a bad name. Shouldn’t they be following this lawsuit up with lawsuits against anyone who watches video tape before next weeks game? Aren’t they giving themselves an unfair advantage then too? Don’t get me wrong, I completely disagree with the Patriots actions, as I’ve discussed previously, but a $180 million dollar lawsuit? That’s laughable.