Deflate-gate dominated pre-Super Bowl talk. One of the reasons why it received as much attention as it did was because of so-called “Spygate,” an incident in which the Patriots were found to have videotaped New York Jets’ coaches and players, during a September 2007 game, to steal their signals and coaching instructions. So if the Pats were guilty of that, then maybe they deflated some footballs too.

Who knows what the real story is here. That the Patriots won the game, using no-doubt properly inflated footballs, behind a stellar performance by a QB, who supposedly needs help with the pressure in his footballs, takes some air out of the controversy.

As discussed in the above article, the intersection between sports and the law is legion. In particular, a substantial amount of litigation surrounds the National Football League, its players and fans. So it comes as no surprise that Spygate led to litigation.

In Mayer v. Belichick, 605 F.3d 223 (3d Cir 2010), the Third Circuit held that a Jets season ticket holder could not maintain fraud and racketeering claims against the New England Patriots, and head coach Bill Belichick, for the surreptitious videotaping of the Jets coaches and players. The Spygate opinion is long. But, in general, the court held that the season ticket holder held no legally cognizable right, interest, or injury. “At best, he possessed nothing more than a contractual right to a seat from which to watch an NFL game between the Jets and the Patriots, and this right was clearly honored.”

The court’s conclusion is worth reading: “[T]his Court will affirm the dismissal of Mayer’s amended complaint. Again, it bears repeating that our reasoning here is limited to the unusual and even unique circumstances presented by this appeal. We do not condone the conduct on the part of the Patriots and the team’s head coach, and we likewise refrain from assessing whether the NFL’s sanctions (and its alleged destruction of the videotapes themselves) were otherwise appropriate. We further recognize that professional football, like other professional sports, is a multi-billion dollar business. In turn, ticket-holders and other fans may have legitimate issues with the manner in which they are treated. See, e.g., Charpentier, 75 Cal.App.4th at 314, 89 Cal.Rptr.2d 115 (‘It is common knowledge that professional sports franchisees have a sordid history of arrogant disdain for the consumers of the product.’ (footnote omitted)). Significantly, our ruling also does not leave Mayer and other ticket-holders without any recourse. Instead, fans could speak out against the Patriots, their coach, and the NFL itself. In fact, they could even go so far as to refuse to purchase tickets or NFL-related merchandise. See, e.g., Bowers, 489 F.3d at 321 (noting possible effects of bad reputation on future prospects of sport); Seko, 22 F.3d at 774 (stating that, ‘instead of going to the Cubs game, the fan may head south for Comiskey Park and the White Sox’). However, the one thing they cannot do is bring a legal action in a court of law.” Id. at 237.

The best part of the case is that the plaintiff-season ticket holder, representing himself, then sought review by the United States Supreme Court. Man, now that’s a Jets fan. The nine folks who decide things like, who you can marry, how you can speak and whether the police can rifle through your closet, apparently had more pressing matters. Cert. denied. 131 S. Ct. 1607 (2011).