This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Jazz have settled a lawsuit with a group of VIP fans.
Members of the Jazz's 100 Club paid top dollar to secure their premium seats close to the court at Vivint SmartHome Arena, but after Jazz ownership changed how the seats could be swapped and sold, about two dozen of the club's members sued the team in 2010 claiming their seats had plummeted in value. Six years later, a confidential resolution between the parties has been reached.
A jury trial that had been scheduled for next month was recently canceled and Peggy Tomsic, an attorney for the 100 Club members, said the group plans to formally file for the dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice in the coming days.
"We are very pleased with the outcome for our clients," Tomsic said, declining to discuss any specifics of the settlement because of the confidentiality agreement. "We're all Jazz fans, and now the Jazz can put this behind them and everybody can go forward with good feelings and do what we should be doing, which is supporting the Jazz."
The late Jazz owner Larry H. Miller started the 100 Club in 1987, seeking to "raise capital for [the Jazz] during a time of financial need."
The 60 or so club members said they were enticed to pay a one-time membership fee for premium seats and the exclusive right to sell or bequeath them. Original members paid $15,000 in 1987, according to the club's former president, and had to pay the Jazz a $1,000 transfer fee to sell the rights to their seats. In 1997, according to court filings, one member paid $50,000 for his seats. But that exclusivity made the seats highly valuable.
So when the Jazz launched their Transfer Marketplace program in January 2010, it rankled club members. The program allowed all season-ticket holders those same transfer rights, and members of the 100 Club said the values of their tickets dropped.
The lawsuit alleged that 100 Club members' seats had dropped by 90 percent, a loss of $16 million in total value.
Club members had been seeking more than $19 million in damages. As part of the suit, the members alleged that they had also been overcharged by millions of dollars for other benefits, including meals and trips.
Plaintiff Alan Melchior, the former president of the 100 Club who has since sold his tickets, said he was pleased with the settlement.
"We all decided that we wanted to resolve our differences," he said. "The members want to support the Jazz and they're going to go forward to be some of the best supporters the team has."
A Jazz spokesman declined to comment on the case, citing the confidential nature of the settlement.
Twitter: @aaronfalk