Cavs Motion For Flash Seats

The NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers are seeking to lift an injunction that has barred the team from using its Flash Seats secondary-ticketing software system since September.

At the time, Judge Kathleen O’Malley ruled the Cavs had violated a licensed user agreement with Ticketmaster, writing in her decision that the team was “enjoined from using Flash Seats’ products and services to sell or resell Cavaliers tickets of any kind.”

The Cavs began offering season ticket holders a way to enter games with a driver’s license or credit card through Flash Seats in 2007. The service also allowed the transfer and reselling of tickets online, but TM later claimed in court that it held the exclusive rights to sell any ticket at the team’s home venue – the Quicken Loans Arena.

Following O’Malley’s decision, the team filed an appeal and moved to suspend enforcement of the injunction while the companies attempted to settle the matter.

But settlement negotiations have stalled, and the Cavs came back with a list of complaints filed in a motion in U.S. District Court in Ohio May 13.

According to court documents, the team claims it’s suffering “irreparable harm” in its inability to operate the Flash Seats marketplace during the 2009 playoffs, to the tune of “at least $50,000 in commissions per game.” The Cavs previously received a 16 percent commission on all ticket resales through Flash Seats.

If the Cavs make this year’s finals, the team claims it could lose more than $1 million in commissions through the 2009-10 season should the injunction continue.

Representatives for the team and Ticketmaster have been ordered to appear in court to conduct settlement negotiations May 22.