Posted by Michael Villafana.
You may notice a new safety measure when attending a Major League Baseball game this summer. Extra safety nets will be added to several Major League ballparks starting during the 2016 season, due to several class action lawsuits filed by many baseball fans. Most recently, Gail Payne filed a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball seeking to get the league to act on installing better protection for fans. She also filed an amendment claiming the injuries she suffered when she was struck by a foul ball. According to the lawsuit, it states that around 90 fans have been injured since the initial lawsuit was filed. Two other fans joined Payne’s lawsuit, with one claiming that she sustained broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung when being struck by a foul ball.
In the lawsuit, all 32 teams are named as defendants. However, Major League teams have denied any liabilities for injuries, as they clearly have printed on their tickets liability waivers in which you “sign” to when you purchase your tickets. The MLB has recommended to all 30 teams to extend their foul ball safety nets beyond the end of the dugouts. In addition, the MLB has recommended that they educate their fans better on fan safety and ways to prevent injuries. However, the law firm that filed the class-action lawsuit for Mrs. Payne believes the safety upgrades must be required, and not just recommended.
The MLB has done its due diligence of research on this concerning trend. During their Fall League exhibition games, they studied the direction of foul balls, if a fan was hit or in danger, and the exit velocity off the bat to see how fast the ball was coming at a fan. The latter is what concerns Major League Baseball, which is the most occurrences, with more and more pitchers throwing in the high 90s, leading to faster exit velocity off the bats of batters.
Though some fans may oppose this safety precaution because it ruins the experience of the game, Major League teams are closely exploring the option of adding extra netting. Most notably, the Minnesota Twins were the first team to add extra netting extending beyond the end of the dugouts.
Look for more teams to follow the Twins’ lead so they don’t face any class-action lawsuits by their fans.
Michael is a sports management major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2019.