Pitt offers proposal to settle basketball tickets lawsuit
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The University of Pittsburgh, hoping to settle a class-action lawsuit challenging the school’s new basketball season-ticket policy, has proposed allowing some season-ticket holders to keep their seats if they boost their donations to the school. In March, Pittsburgh attorney and season-ticket holder John Stember sued the school over its new policy, which lets the school reassign some seats depending on how much a ticket holder donates to the school.
Before the Petersen Events Center opened in 2002, Stember said, the university promoted a plan that promised season-ticket holders the same seats every year if they maintained or increased their contributions to a fund-raising program now called “The Panther Club.”
Earlier this year, Pitt announced that all non-Club season tickets would be reassigned annually based on a point score that includes, among other things, how much money ticket holders give to a new sports fundraising drive. Stember likened the process to a silent auction, saying that people could lose their seats to others who gave more money.
The school’s proposed settlement, announced Thursday, is similar to the remedy Stember sought from an Allegheny County judge. Under the proposal, current season-ticket holders who have maintained or upped their donations would be able to keep their seats through the 2009-2010 season by making additional contributions.
The settlement is fair for both sides because season-ticket holders have the ability to retain their seats and Pitt can generate revenue, Stember said.
“I’m pleased to have the case resolve quickly,” Stember said. “It could have dragged on for years.”
Pitt announced the new program as part of a $45 million campaign to fund more athletic scholarships and build better facilities for some secondary sports.
“Our student-athletes’ needs are at the heart of these efforts to encourage broader financial support,” Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement Thursday.
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