Assumption of Risk
The people who own and operate sports venues are certainly aware of the risk associated with action sports. Therefore, most tickets to sporting events have fine print that warns the ticket holder that the facility is not responsible for foul balls, hockey pucks, or off-balance players who come careening into the stands and cause injury to spectators. It is also not uncommon for there to be signs posted in the venue about foul balls or for the P.A. announcer to give a warning over the loudspeaker.
The fine print on your ticket and the signs throughout the venue are based on the legal doctrine of “assumption of risk,” in which the law recognizes that, by entering a sporting event venue, you have assumed some level of risk for unexpected—yet somewhat foreseeable—injuries.
However, the assumption of risk rule is not without exceptions. You have “assumed the risk” of certain things happening, such as a foul ball being hit into the second level of seats or an errant pass sending a basketball into the stands. But if the facility owners and operators have not made an adequate effort to protect spectators’ safety, the assumption of risk argument will not cut it.
For example, say you were sitting behind home plate at a baseball game, right behind the protective net that catches foul balls and passed balls. If there is a large hole in the screen that allows a foul ball to shoot straight through and injure you, you could have grounds for a lawsuit against the facility.
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