Does MLS Have a Legal Obligation to Refund Galaxy Tix Now That Beckham is Down?

One of the nicest things about spending this semester at the University of Utah College of Law is that my office is about 100 yards from Rice-Eccles Stadium, home of the Utah Utes as well as Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake. Like many fans in MLS cities around the country, I bought tickets for an upcoming visit by the Los Angeles Galaxy, hoping to walk across the street on September 19 to see David Beckham in person.

Now that the fabled star appears unlikely to play over the remainder of this season, a number of commentators are calling on the league to refund tickets or offer fans tickets for next year's Galaxy games. For MSNBC.com, Filip Bondy writes, "there ought to be a limit to the phrase, 'buyer beware,' when it comes to a transcendent superstar."

From a contract law perspective, the league appears to have little obligation to offer refunds or exchanges. Mike has discussed the contract law issues in detail in his posts from this summer on the Buick Invitational, Formula One Racing case, and Billy Donovan's brief flirtation with the Orlando Magic. I agree with Mike that a contract law claim against a team over this kind of alleged breach is a likely loser.

Still, I wonder if there might be some other legal exposure here. What about a claim under federal or state law for false or deceptive advertising? Some commentators on the Beckham situation have suggested that the league was well aware of Beckham's nagging injuries before he arrived in America, and that the league went ahead and marketed games featuring Beckham as "special events." I'm not an expert on this area of law, but my guess is that fans would still face an uphill battle in trying to show that MLS had specific knowledge that Beckham was unlikely to play due to injuries at the time they made representations about his possible appearance. Moreover, "Beckham non-guarantees" like Ticketmaster's might be said to make clear to fans that they should not expect Beckham to be at every game.

As Bondy notes, regardless of what the law says, MLS may be risking arousing public resentment if it declines to offer refunds. For a relatively young league in a sport that has had persistent trouble putting down roots in this country, that may not be a risk worth taking.

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