Personal Injury at Sporting Events

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Going to a sporting event can be an exciting experience for people new to the sport and for those who are avid fans. Despite your fan status and knowledge of the sport, everybody is equally at risk of personal injury when attending a sporting event, regardless of the injury being caused by the stadium or by another fan. Being injured is no fun but getting injured at a sporting event is even worse.

Although attending events for some sports has the assumption of risk, there is little risk of injury in the public areas of the stadium where fans are allowed such as in the walkways, in the bathrooms, and even on the stairs. An injury can happen in all of the public areas of a stadium. An assumption of risk is when a person can assume injury is possible by just attending the game. For example, a person can assume that there is a high possibility that they can get injured by objects that fly from the field to the stands such as baseballs and parts of a bat. In fact, there is text on the back of all tickets that explains such information and acts a “waiver of liability” on the plaintiff’s part. Most sporting events have the similar cautionary notes and waivers.

If you’ve been injured in an accident at a sporting event, depending on your situation, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your injuries. Call the personal injury attorneys at One Law Group in Beverly Hills at (844) 626-1529 to schedule a free consultation today.

At a football game, objects or players are not likely to come flying into the stands like they are at baseball, basketball, or hockey games, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Unfortunately, the areas with the highest chances of injury for fans are in the public areas where fans are allowed. For instance, a spilled drink can happen on any part of the walkway and without being noticed by the stadium staff. If the stadium staff does not notice the spill in the walkway, they can’t put a sign that warns people of the hazard, and that may create a personal injury. If the floor is uneven in a certain part of the walkway or a step is unmarked and a person falls and gets hurt, this may be grounds for a personal injury lawsuit.

Another area that has causes a tremendous media attention is the idea of security or police not being able to cover the entire stadium or parking lot, leaving the potential for danger from other fans. A good example of this is the case between Bryan Stow vs. L.A. Dodgers former owner, Frank McCourt in 2011. Mr. Stow won an $18-million lawsuit after being beaten unconscious at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. He suffered brain damage and became severely impaired from the assault.

A similar altercation occurred in 2014 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA where two people were assaulted in a stadium bathroom and one was even left partially paralyzed. The lawsuit suggests that the team was partly to blame because there was not adequate security near that area of the stadium, which resulted in the victims being hurt. The final verdict and award was not made public by several sources that reported the altercation or the lawsuit.

In both cases, alcohol was the main contributor. Although intoxication did not affect the verdict in each of the above cases, intoxicated people are very common at all sporting events. Personal injury cases that involve excessive alcohol consumption or some type of risky behavior usually fall under what is called Contributory Negligence. This basically means that the person’s own conduct is the reason for them getting injured.

In the end, the waiver of liability on tickets or in the fine print of your receipt may be tricky to overcome. That is why it takes the experience and knowledge of a good personal injury attorney like those at One Law Group in Beverly Hills.

If you’ve been injured in an accident at a sporting event, depending on your situation, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your injuries. Call the personal injury attorneys at One Law Group in Beverly Hills at (844) 626-1529 to schedule a free consultation today.

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