NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — A Maryland-based ticket broker has sued the New York Yankees over their decision to revoke 52 tickets, claiming the move violates New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law.
According to a report in SportsBusinessDaily, ASC Ticket Co. is seeking a reinstatement of the season tickets, as well as monetary damages of at least $1 million from the baseball club.
ASC’s lawsuit stems from a provision in the law that stipulates ways in which venue operators are prohibited from interfering with the legal resale of tickets, including subscription-based or season ticket packages as a condition of purchase.
Per SportsBusinessDaily, the plaintiffs claim to have received a letter from the team in February stating that the Yankees had determined that ASC’s ” buying behavior does not fit our criteria, therefore the decision has been made to release the seats.”
ASC maintains that the letter was part of a thinly-veiled ploy to conceal their “illegal policy of targeting and taking inventory away from ticketing resellers,” SportsBusinessDaily reported.
In addition to seeking monetary damages, ASC is also seeking an injunction blocking the Yankees from selling the season tickets to another party.
Update: Amplify reported on Wednesday that a court has granted ASC a temporary restraining order to preserve the lion’s share of the tickets for now.
“The court just granted a TRO (temporary restraining order) preserving 49 out of the 52 subscriptions which was a great result for us,” Larry Hutcher, an attorney for ASC told Amplify.
