Despite the ongoing sporting rivalry between the New York Giants and the New York Jets, the NFL teams actually have a lot in common. For one, neither the Giants nor the Jets play their home games in New York. For another, they’re both on the receiving end of a US$6 billion (AU$8.3 billion) lawsuit from a fan because of it.
Yes, you read that correctly. Neither the New York Giants nor the New York Jets – which are obviously supposed to represent the greater New York metropolitan area – actually play their home games there. Instead, the teams’ real seat of power lies at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. And nobody’s more upset about this fact than one particular fan from New York who, according to New York Daily News, has taken legal action at a Manhattan federal court this January.
The lawsuit demands that both the Giants and Jets abandon MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and return to playing in New York by 2025. Court papers also indicate in the event they refuse to do so, they should be ordered to rebrand to the East Rutherford Giants/Jets (for as long as they play in the Garden State).
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“If the Giants and Jets want to call themselves New York teams, they need to come back to New York,” Plaintiff Abdiell Suero of Greenwich Village stated in court papers.
“I’ve travelled to and from MetLife Stadium by mass transit and car service, and both ways are a nightmare.”
The lawsuit is seeking US$2 billion (AU$2.8 billion) in monetary damages and US$4 billion (AU$5.5 billion) in punitive damages, with legal claims against the teams including false advertising and deceptive practices.
The lawsuit claims the plaintiff and the class, which includes all Giants and Jets fans that actually reside in New York, have suffered “mental and emotional damage, including depression, sadness and anxiety… as a result of the Defendants’ conduct.”
While the New York Jets have yet to comment on the matter, the Giants issued a statement in response to the lawsuit, declaring that “this case has no merit and we will defend it vigorously.”
Granted, this all sounds a little ridiculous and the disgruntled fan likely won’t win. But Abdiell Suero does have a valid point. The franchises profit from the iconic New York branding and fans probably shouldn’t have to experience that much difficulty travelling to home games. Especially when the teams are as bad at the sport as the Jets and Giants.
For that reason alone they owe their fans $8 billion.
