McAllister v.St. Louis Rams, LLC

Filing 63

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER re: 45 MOTION for Reconsideration filed by Defendant The St. Louis Rams, LLC motion is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Courts September 21, 2016 Order (#44) is VACATED IN PART, only with respect to the Courts granting partial judgment on the pleadings to plaintiff McAllister as to the FANS Agreement. Signed by District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr on 12/14/16. (MRS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
RONALD MCALLISTER,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE ST. LOUIS RAMS, LLC,
Defendants.

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No. 4:16-CV-172 SNLJ
No. 4:16-CV-262
No. 4:16-CV-297
CONSOLIDATED

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on defendant St. Louis Rams’ motion to reconsider
(#45) this Court’s order that, among other things, granted judgment on the pleadings to
plaintiff Ronald McAllister as to one of two nearly-identical Personal Seat License
(“PSL”) agreements at issue. Those PSL agreements allowed PSL holders to buy season
tickets for St. Louis Rams football games. The Court stated in the Memorandum and
Oder that “The original license agreements were issued by the Rams’ ticketing agent,
FANS, Inc., and that agreement is referred to as the “FANS” Agreement. Subsequent
PSLs were sold directly by the Rams using an almost identical contract (“Rams”
Agreement).” (#44 at 3.)
The Rams now seek reconsideration of that decision because, the Rams say, the
Court improperly decided that the entity FANS, Inc. was an agent of the defendant Rams.
The Rams state that “factual determination” was central to the Court’s finding that
McAllister had shown on the pleadings that the Rams were liable for deposits made under
the FANS PSL Agreement. (#46 at 1.)

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To the contrary, the Court did not base its decision on an agency theory of
liability, as neither party discussed the agency question in the briefing. As a result, the
Court’s sole focus was on the proper interpretation of the refund provision in the two
Agreements.
However, the Rams are correct that the agency issue was technically preserved,
though it was buried in the briefing as a single sentence contending that the Rams were
“not parties” to the FANS Agreement. (#42 at 13.) And in fact, the Rams’ briefing was
focused entirely elsewhere --- as if there were no question that the Rams had taken over
the FANS, Inc. obligations under the FANS Agreement. For example, the Rams
specifically stated: “[T]he ‘refund’ provision simply provided the Rams with a noncontroversial right to limit the number of seats sold to any Licensee and, if a deposit had
been made, to refund all or a portion of it back.” (#42 at 6.) The Rams made that
statement without any reservation and cited both the FANS and Rams Agreements in
support.
Despite that statement in their briefing, the Rams deny that they “succeeded” to
FANS, Inc.’s rights and responsibilities under the FANS Agreement. As the plaintiff
points out, this position is questionable in light of the evidence that, for years, the Rams
sold season tickets to PSL Holders who had purchased their PSLs under the FANS
Agreement. However, the Rams are correct that the matter of their liability on the FANS
Agreement must be saved for later litigation.
The Court will grant the Rams’ motion to reconsider as to the Rams’ liability on
McAllister’s claims regarding the FANS Agreement. As a consequence, McAllister’s
alternative theory --- that the FANS Agreement was illusory and void --- has been
resurrected and may also be litigated further. The Court’s September 21, 2016 Order
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(#44) is vacated only with respect to the Court’s granting partial judgment on the
pleadings to plaintiff McAllister as to the FANS Agreement.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant’s motion for reconsideration (#45) is
GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Court’s September 21, 2016 Order (#44)
is VACATED IN PART, only with respect to the Court’s granting partial judgment on
the pleadings to plaintiff McAllister as to the FANS Agreement.
Dated this 14th day of December, 2016.

STEPHEN N. LIMBAUGH, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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