North Carolina business people and football fans might be interested in a situation developing in the wake of the Super Bowl. The mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey, recently dispatched a letter to National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell asking the NFL to pay a total of $25,000 for what the mayor sees as breach of contract. The letter requests a $20,000 payment to a school district and a $5,000 payment to a fire department.
Reportedly, the Super Bowl halftime show production company had agreed in email communications to use two parking lots managed by the school district. According to the mayor, the parties had agreed on a fee of $10,000 for the use of a parking lot, but the company backed out of the agreement nine days later because it had made a different arrangement. The parking lots were to be used, along with buses, to transport volunteers and workers to the football stadium. The fire department was staffed for the Super Bowl, so the mayor requested the $5,000 payment.
A spokesperson for the NFL had not heard of the letter but said that the city of Secaucus did not make the deal with the NFL. If an agreement was made, it was made with the production company and not with the league, according to the spokesperson. The mayor said the city would file a breach of contract complaint if the NFL did not respond to the letter.
A series of emails may be sufficient to establish a valid contract. A breach of contract claim in this case would require an analysis of the contents of the emails exchanged by the parties to determine whether a contract existed and whether that contract was breached. A business litigation attorney may be able to evaluate a potential claim for breach of contract or may be able to bring an action seeking enforcement or damages.
Source: NBC, “Secaucus mayor asking NFL for $25,000 for breached contract with Super Bowl halftime show“, Curtis Crabtree, February 10, 2014