Cowboys owner Jones tells court he regrets Super Bowl seating woes

By

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones testified in federal court on Tuesday he regrets that some temporary seats were not ready before kickoff for the Super Bowl in 2011 due because of delays in increasing stadium capacity.

Jones spent more than two hours on the witness stand testifying in a lawsuit filed by seven fans who sued the NFL because they either did not have seats, or their seats had obstructed views.

On cross-examination, Jones admitted the stadium did not meet its deadline for installing the temporary seats.

"I regret that," he said.

Lawyers said these are the first multiple lawsuits brought by fans who claim the NFL breached its ticket contract with them by offering inadequate seats or forcing them to stand throughout the game.

Jones was originally named in the suit but was later dropped, leaving the National Football League as the sole defendant.

NFL officials have taken responsibility for the seating troubles but fans rejected settlement offers of reimbursements and tickets to subsequent Super Bowls as insufficient.

Fans are trying to convince the jury that the NFL placed its greed ahead of doing the job correctly, according to court documents.

About 13,000 temporary seats were supposed to be set up but 1,250 of those were determined to be unusable because of missing guard rails or other safety problems, forcing 850 ticket-holders to be relocated, with nearly 400 in standing room.

Email correspondence and testimony from top NFL executives earlier in the two-week trial, described growing unease about the temporary seating and pressure from Jones to break attendance records at the 2011 game held on Feb. 6 in the Dallas suburb of Arlington.

Jones had said at a news conference before the game, which Green Bay Packers won against the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 31-25, that the Super Bowl attendance record would be broken, but it was not.

Tags
NFL, National Football League
Join the Discussion
More News
No Jail for Medical Student Found Guilty of Raping Drunk

No Jail for Medical Student Found Guilty of Raping Drunk Woman Who 'Couldn't Possibly Consent': He Is 'Young' and 'Talented'

Puerto Rican Server Told to 'Go Back to Mexico' By

Puerto Rican Server Told to 'Go Back to Mexico' by Customers in Racist Note: 'No Tips for Illegals'

Georgia Man Chris Louis Leaves Children at McDonald's

Georgia Dad Left Young Children at McDonald's While He Went to a Job Interview. Cops Were Waiting When He Returned

Kolstad Stoeckel

Minnesota Man Begged Deputies to 'Put One in My Head' After Shooting Sleeping Roommate: Police