Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Businessman Douglas Burris confers with his attorneys at the Shawano County Courthouse this week during a civil trial involving his Green Bay Packers tickets.
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Onlookers in the courtroom during the civil trial over Green Bay Packers tickets include several of the former season ticket holders suing broker Douglas Burris.
A Shawano businessman is fighting accusations of fraud leveled by Green Bay Packers fans who say he unfairly stripped them of their season tickets at Lambeau Field.
Douglas Burris, who acquired 331 season tickets to Packers games when he purchased a Shawano tavern in 1991, built a network of customers to whom he marketed the coveted tickets on a yearly basis.
The unusual and lucrative arrangement once landed Burris in the New York Times in an article that declared him “the most popular man in Shawano” among football fans hoping to attend a game in Green Bay.
A jury at the Shawano County Courthouse is hearing testimony this week from former customers who contend that Burris fraudulently violated their business deal and revoked their Packers tickets, later selling his entire bundle to an outside party for $1.4 million.
Nine former customers, who once controlled a combined 77 season tickets through Burris, are seeking unspecified damages.
“This case is about the business side of football, not about the ‘rah rah,’” defense attorney John Bartholomew said Monday in his opening statement to the jury. “It’s about the other side — the business side.”
Bartholomew told jurors that his client not only was the largest holder of Packers season tickets, he was at one time the most prolific holder of season tickets for any team in any major sport in the country.
Testimony is scheduled to continue all week in Shawano County Circuit Judge William Kussel Jr.’s courtroom.
Burris was expected to testify on his own behalf after jurors heard from many of the former customers who filed suit against Burris. The plaintiffs include Shawano residents Arlene Martin, Roger Knueppel, Ronald Malueg and Todd Otto, along with Michael Landwehr, of Brookfield, Daryl Dehnke, of Eau Claire, Mark George Most, of River Falls, Grant George Peterson, of Merrill, and Gerald Vosen, of Merrimac.
Attorney Rex Anderegg, representing the plaintiffs, told jurors in his opening statement that Burris promised each of his customers continued access to their season tickets year after year. But he reneged, Anderegg said, after the customers helped him meet a nearly $500,000 obligation to contribute toward the cost of Lambeau Field’s historic renovation and expansion in 2003.
To fund the project, the Packers required each season ticket holder to pay a seat license fee of $1,400 per ticket, which for Burris amounted to $463,400.
“This is a case about Packers season tickets — lots of them,” Anderegg told jurors. “This is where the story starts to get interesting.”
Burris acquired his Lambeau Field tickets in 1991 when he purchased a Shawano tavern then known as Stan & Bud’s, 115 S. Main St. The owners of Stan & Bud’s had been boosters of the Packers since the 1920s, and they owned a treasure trove of season tickets that went with the tavern in the sale.
According to court records in the civil case, Burris, who later used the business names “U Make The Call Inc.” and “Burris Bar & Grill Inc.,” soon cultivated a network of 76 customers paying for access to his season tickets. Some purchased tickets only for family, but one customer took home more than 40 tickets year after year.
Jerry Hanson, staff legal counsel for the Packers, took the stand as the first witness Monday and testified that Burris was within his rights under team policy to market his business-owned season tickets. Although there are restrictions on individuals transferring season tickets to anyone outside immediate family, Hanson said, corporations have more flexibility in selling tickets on the secondary market.
“The Packers don’t get involved in that,” he testified. “We understand that’s done out there.”
Hanson also confirmed that Burris’ collection of 331 tickets made him the single largest holder of season tickets at Lambeau Field.
The Packers currently have about 135,000 fans on a waiting list — known for taking years or even decades — for the opportunity to become season ticket holders.
In their suit, filed in 2013, the plaintiffs contend that Burris offered customers two options for paying the $1,400 seat license fee, including a 10-year payment plan. Burris assured them continued access to their tickets past the 10-year period, the suit alleges, but he later revoked their tickets and sold them to another buyer.
“Once all their money was gone,” Anderegg told the jury, “he broke that promise.”
Knueppel, a cattle dealer in Shawano, testified that he had hoped ultimately to pass his seven season tickets on to family members. Saying that his ticket deal dated back to the days of Stan & Bud’s, Knueppel told the jury he was stunned when Burris informed him in 2012 that his tickets were no longer available.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Knueppel said. “I just thought we had an agreement.”
Burris struck a deal in 2012 to sell his entire portfolio of Packers tickets to an outside party for $1.4 million, except for 14 tickets that he kept for himself.
The suit seeks actual and punitive damages for breach of contract, fraud, intentional misrepresentation and other civil causes of action.
Bartholomew told the jury that the business deal with Burris guaranteed ticket customers access to their season tickets only for 10 years. The plaintiffs could have ended the arrangement with Burris at any time, Bartholomew said, adding that Burris assessed the surcharge as a way of recouping his costs, just as any business owner would do.
“This is a not a scheme at all,” the attorney said.
The case began Monday morning with about 80 prospective jurors filling the courtroom to field questions about whether they could be fair and objective in the case. Attorneys on both sides raised questions about the Packers, with
Anderegg asking jurors whether they were Packers fans. One juror who acknowledged being a Chicago Bears fan drew groans from others in the courtroom — and ultimately was not chosen for the jury.
Bartholomew told jurors that the case was not really about Packers football, and that it would require them to disregard their passion for the football team.
“Everybody loves the Packers,” he said. “Is there anybody who can’t set that aside and treat this as a case about merchandise?”