As reported a few months back, a class action was filed against the team in the Middle District of Florida alleging that the team was sending unsolicited text messages to boost ticket sales, in violation of the TCPA. Now, the team faces yet another TCPA class action. The Plaintiff in this case, Chad Fernandez, alleges that the team sent him texts with messages like “Happy Opening Day 2018!” and “Today only: $20 Press Level tickets for Blue Jays vs. Rays” with links to more information about the game and how to buy Rays tickets. He alleges that these texts constitute a clear violation of the TCPA, as they are advertising texts sent without his prior express written consent.

Plaintiff seeks to represent the following class: “All persons within the United States who received a SMS text message, sent by or on behalf of Defendant or an affiliate, subsidiary, or agent of Defendant from the short-code telephone number 420-86.”

Plaintiff is represented by Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya LLP.

Counsel for Defendant Tampa Bay Rays has not yet made an appearance.

While the Rays are a respectable 82-66 on the season, they are 20 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. The Rays also rank #29 (out of 30 Major League Baseball teams) in home attendance, per ESPN. So sadly for Tampa Bay fans, it looks like the team’s 2018 season will be remembered as much for what happened in the courtroom as what took place on the field.