UPDATE on that Super Bowl lawsuit.

To recap: at last year's Super Bowl, when the team of the century one-hit wonders Green Bay Packers beat the aging Steelers, 475 people couldn't be seated, and ultimately were offered settlements by the NFL of either three times face value of the ticket (or $2,400) plus a ticket to this year's game; or one game ticket to any future Super Bowl plus airfare and four nights' hotel stay; or $5,000, or a check for the total documented expenses the fan had paid.

Four options offered, but many fans took the fifth route of suing, and one year later, those fans are claiming victory after a federal judge has let (some) of their case go on.

The suit, officially titled Simms v. Jones, the Jones being Jerry Jones, Cowboys' owner, was briefly mentioned in December, when the presiding judge was reported to have "allowed" the Super Bowl lawsuit to proceed, a headline and story that is only very technically accurate, which is what happens when sports "reporters" try to talk about things that actually matter/require knowledge.

What really happened in late November 2011 was that the Court dismissed the breach of contract claim against the Cowboys and Jerry Jones (with leave to replead), and allowed the breach of contract claim against the NFL to proceed; as to that latter, the Court noted that the limitation of remedies on the tickets, under Texas law, did not require the Court to dismiss the claim:

At this stage in the litigation, the breach of contract claim against the NFL cannot be determined as a matter of law. There is no proof in the record that the offers of compensation were in fact sent to the individual Plaintiffs or to other class members. Furthermore, the issue of what recoverable damages the Plaintiffs actually suffered cannot be determined based upon the pleadings alone. If Plaintiffs prevail on their contract claim, they will be entitled to damages that the law allows, unlimited by the statement of remedy on the ticket. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the breach of contract claim against the NFL is therefore DENIED.

That, in turn, was "reported" as meaning that "the plaintiffs could be eligible for compensation far beyond that which the NFL offered in the wake of the debacle", which is only partially accurate, too. The judge actually simply ruled, as the quote notes, that the plaintiff were entitled to whatever remedies the law allowed.

The Court went on to note that simply purchasing a ticket created no duty of good faith or fair dealing on the part of the NFL under Texas law, and dismissed fraud claims. As to the latter, the plaintiffs had permission to replead them.

In short: the Court limited the case back in November, 2011, to a breach of contract against the NFL, dismissing the bigger claims and letting the Cowboy defendants out, so the case continued on a very limited basis.

The case was then refiled, again against the Cowboy defendants, this time alleging that Jones' Cowboys got up to 5% of the game tickets, which they sold, and this time alleging that the fraud was by omission -- that the NFL guidelines required that the ticket seller disclose obstructed views and so the failure to disclose that was a fraud by omission -- and also fraud-by-concealment. The complaint continued the case for punitive damages and attorney's fees.

So if you are one of the people who joined the class-action suit, you have not yet been paid or compensated in any way, and most of your claims have been dismissed once already.

On the other hand, 246 of last year's "jilted" fans have taken the NFL up on their offer to attend this year's Super Bowl, according to The Consumerist, which seems low but I tend to agree with the Indystar.com opinion that most fans are probably waiting for a better location for a Super Bowl.