A judge last week ruled that the University of Kentucky cannot change the seats of UK men's basketball-ticket holders after the school completes its renovation of Rupp Arena.
The order was granted to John Meyers and Kathy Walker who were told they would lost their current tickets and get new ones handed out in order of donations to the K Fund, a sports booster organization.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, UK told 178 lower arena- and courtside-ticket holders that aging infrastructure required them to rebuild risers, which would change the configuration of seats. Everyone would still get tickets, but each ticketholder would pick where they now wanted to sit based on the K Fund Priority list. The deadline was to be Friday, March 29 at 5 p.m.
The order specifies UK can proceed with work on the arena but not give away Meyers' and Walker's tickets who had already worked out agreements to give lifelong donations in exchange for lifetime tickets.
The judge did not rule on whether those agreements were considered contracts but wrote that, “the Plaintiffs raise a substantial question whether they have a valid, enforceable contract under KRS 45A.245 that is outside the scope of sovereign immunity, and whether those contracts were breached by UK when it moved forward with its plan to perform a seat reconfiguration by sending each of the Plaintiffs their respective ‘Happy New Year’ letters about the new seat selection process.”
The judge said UK has shown renewal terms in annual letters that tickets are a license and not a property right. But “that does not negate the fact the Plaintiffs have offered proof sufficient to show a substantial possibility that there are enforceable, written contracts that fall outside the scope of sovereign immunity,” he wrote. “Likewise, Plaintiffs have shown that UK has followed a long tradition of providing season-ticket holders with lifetime assignments of particular seats, and event the ability to transfer those seats to a spouse or child, over the course of a lifetime.”
The judge will rule on the matter of contracts at a later date and ordered UK, along with Walker and Meyers to go to mediation over the matter.
“We’re delighted with the ruling,” said Joe Childers, attorney for Meyers and Walker. “This does not prevent the university and Lexington Center from going forward with planned renovations for safety reasons. The only thing the judge has done is taken these six tickets out the mix and said these are reserved for John Meyers and Kathy Walker.”
