Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Jets Fan Sues Patriots For Cheating
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 15, 2010
Modified Apr 15, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 15, 2010
Modified Apr 15, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A riled-up Jets fan is still smarting from revelations three years ago that Coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots were caught cheating during a game with the Jets, videotaping Jets coaches flashing play signals. And since he's a lawyer, he's decided to sue the Patriots for $185 million on behalf of all fans.
Carl Mayer, a Jets season ticket holder, thinks fans deserve refunds on all the games played at the Meadowlands between the two teams since 2000, when Belichick became head coach of the Pats. He estimates that fans spent a total of $62 million on tickets, and are entitled to triple that amount under fraud laws. According to his suit, the videotaping "violated the contractual expectations and rights of New York Jets ticket holders who paid to watch a game played in compliance with the league's rules."
Mayer first filed against the Pats in 2007, and has been in legal limbo since; according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "the lawsuit was widely derided and ridiculed," and the NFL said it "would only waste more time, money and judicial resources." U.S. District Court judge initially threw out the case without a hearing, but it has since been resurrected by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, and was selected to be one of the relatively few cases to get an oral argument before a three-judge panel.
Yesterday, a lawyer for the Patriots said, "Every spectator that goes to a game expects there will be rules infractions," and, when a judge asked, "Do you think someone would pay that kind of money [for tickets] if they knew in advance it wasn't a fair game?" he responded, "Given what I know about professional sports -- yes." Belichick's lawyer said, "we have no duty to Jets fans" to owe them a fair game.
Tagged
cheating
football
jets
lawsuit
lawsuits
pats
videotape
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .