Athletes are often injured while practicing and playing – but most injuries in sports only occur on the field. However, fans and audience members are sometimes injured, either by the goings-on on the field or by other dangers and defects in the stands. If you or a loved one was injured at a sporting event in Miami, you may have a few legal obstacles to overcome before you can get compensation for your injuries, and it is vital to talk to an experienced personal injury lawyer about your case. If you were injured in a slip and fall, hurt by a stray baseball, or injured by a rowdy fan at a baseball game, football game, basketball game, or other sporting event in the Miami area, contact Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA today.
Our Miami attorney for injuries sustained at a sporting event might be able to fight your case and work to get you financial compensation for your injuries. To schedule a free legal consultation on your case, contact our office today at (305) 694-2676.
Types of Injuries at Sporting Events
Injuries can occur in numerous ways. While security staff and built-in safety features like nets and fences might work to keep people safe, there is always a risk of injury while attending a sporting event. These injuries can occur in several ways, and the target of your injury lawsuit might change depending on how the injury occurred. Some injuries occur from events that happen in the game coming out into the stands. Foul balls and home runs enter the stands all the time – and catching one of these balls is a great part of the game for some people.
However, these balls sometimes strike people and cause serious injuries to the head and skull. Other times, people are injured when players go out of bounds, such as if a basketball player dives out of bounds to save a ball. In these cases, you may be able to sue the player and the franchise if their player was responsible for your injuries, or you can sue the stadium operators if their lack of safety nets or fencing allowed your injury to happen.
Many injuries occur because of unsafe premises in the stands or throughout the arena or stadium. If there are spills or wet surfaces that do not have warning signs, people may slip and fall on the wet floors. It is up to the stadium operators and their janitorial staff to make sure that the premises are safe and free of dangerous defects, so they could be legally responsible for your injuries if they failed to clean up or repair problems. Other injuries could occur because of rowdy or dangerous fans. In these cases, you may be able to sue the other fan directly for assault and battery.
However, you may also be able to sue the stadium and their security staff for negligent security if they allowed a drunk or dangerous fan to enter the premises or if they let someone in with an illegal weapon. Other injuries may justify suing other parties as well, so you should talk to an attorney even if your injury was not listed here.
Suing if You were Injured Attending a Professional Sporting Event
The process for suing for injuries sustained at a professional sporting event often involves a few significant legal issues that you need to overcome to win your case. First, you must prove that the defendant was actually at fault for your injuries by showing that they failed to use the proper skill or care to keep you safe from injury. This could be shown by a lack of safety netting, negligent security, or failing to clean up dangers in the stands. Beyond this, you may also need to overcome certain defenses they may use.
When you attend a sporting event, your ticket works as a contract between you and the operators of the event. In most cases, the contract includes a clause that allows them to kick you out or deny you entry for certain reasons, but it also works as a liability waiver that says you will not sue them for injuries. These waivers do not always apply to all injuries sustained at the game, and you may be able to overcome this waiver with strategic legal help. The defendant may also argue that you assumed the risk of injury by attending the game.
For instance, courtside seats carry an inherent risk of having a player fall into you at your seat, and the argument that you assume the risk of that happening might come up. However, even if you do assume the risk, this does not give the players or the franchise lease to recklessly cause you injury, nor does it give rowdy fans the right to hit you or the stadium/arena operators the right to leave dangerous and dirty hazards in the stands and hallways. Lastly, they may argue that you caused your own injuries. Arguments that you were intoxicated and contributed to your own injuries or that you put yourself in harm’s way by moving toward dangers are often used against injured fans. Our lawyer can fight these accusations or work to claim at least partial damages even if you were partly at fault.
Call Our Miami Sporting Event Injury Attorney for a Free Legal Consultation
If you were injured at a professional sporting event in Miami – or even if you were hurt at a local game or school sporting event – contact Prosper Shaked Accident Injury Attorneys PA today. Our Miami attorney for injuries sustained at a sporting event may be able to take your case and work to get you and your family the compensation you need to cover medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering caused by the injuries you faced. For a free legal consultation on your case, contact our office today at (305) 694-2676.