Spectator injury case moves forward

Pickel v. Springfield Stallions, Inc., 398 Ill.App.3d 1063 (Ill. App. Mar. 23, 2010). Plaintiff, a spectator at an indoor-football game, was injured when a player fell over the stands and collided with the plaintiff. The plaintiff brought tort claims not against the player, but as a result of the negligent maintenance and failure to warn spectators of the possibility of injury. The trial court found in favor of the defendants on the grounds that they owed no duty because of the inherent risk involved with watching the football game. The court here, however, agreed with the plaintiff's argument that the precedent for the trial court's decision came from cases wherein the plaintiff was a participant not a spectator. Accordingly, the court determined that the defendants owed a duty to take reasonable action to prevent unreasonable risks of harm. Therefore, the court remanded the case back to the trial court for action consistent with its ruling.

Thus, when a fan is injured, a team/facility would need to show the law as applied to other spectators and what risks they might be willing to take, not what risks a participant accepts.

Case involving injured fan on bleachers

Pryor v. Iberia Parish Sch. Bd., 42 So.3d 1015 (La. App. Jun. 16, 2010). Pryor, an elderly woman, attended her grandson's football game at a stadium operated by the school board. As a result of a defective step in the bleachers, Pryor fell and broke her leg. She brought a tort claim against the school board alleging negligent maintenance of the stadium bleachers. The trial court concluded that while the school board acted negligently in its maintenance of and failure to warn about the defective step, that, on balance, the school board did not act unreasonably. The present court overturned the lower court on the grounds that the trial court, when it determined the reasonableness of the school board's action, considered the bleachers as a whole without examining the specific defect. As a result, the court concluded that not only was the school board negligent, but that it acted unreasonably. The court awarded a total of $300,000 to Pryor for her injuries.