The ownership of the Los Angeles Rams have agreed to settle three class-actions lawsuits brought by fans who purchased Personal Seat Licenses when the team played its games in St. Louis, according to court fillings Monday.
Details of the settlement were not provided, but the filing indicated that signatures from class members were being gathered and are expected to be submitted for preliminary approval by mid-December.
Three separate lawsuits were filed against the team in the wake of its decision to relocate to Los Angeles, later consolidated. At the core were deposits and payments made towards Personal Seat Licenses good for seats at the team’s former home at Dome at America’s Center. When the team departed, it opted against issuing any refunds for payments made for future games, despite the fact that the team wouldn’t be playing them.
The team’s attempt to skirt the refunds centered around its contention that the entity the PSL holders needed to obtain relief from was FANS, a state agency in Missouri set up by the venue owner, Regional Convention and Visitors Commission.
“FANS sold PSLs for itself and as an agent to CVC, and not as an agent for the Rams,” a filing by the Rams stated earlier this year. “Indeed, the Rams’ only obligation with respect to the Licensees of FANS PSLs was a contractual obligation — owed to FANS and the CVC (and not to the Licensees themselves) — to sell tickets to those Licensees for Rams games played “at the Facilities,” meaning the new stadium, constructed by the CVC (now called the Dome at America’s Center).”
That, of course, could have set a strongly negative precedent for anyone who has ever been forced to purchase a license from a team to have the right to purchase tickets from the team. The entity the Rams were trying to pin the legal responsibility on for the money had dissolved upon their decision to relocate.
The lawsuits were originally filed in 2016 upon the team’s final NFL approval for the move. It had been pending since this spring to allow the two sides to participate in mediation sessions that led to the settlement agreement.
