Final Four’s Legal Lotto

A federal judge on Sept. 28 dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s men’s basketball Final Four ticket lottery.

The suit has been working its way through the federal court in Indianapolis for more than one year.

Tom George of Tempe, Ariz., filed the suit in May 2008, claiming the lottery was an illegal “gambling enterprise” that took millions of dollars in unrefunded service charges from unsuspecting applicants, according to USA Today. Ticketmaster, which operates the lottery, was also named in the suit but reportedly reached a settlement with George in May.

George admitted he had entered several Final Four ticket lotteries with no success. Judge William Lawrence pointed to the repeated entries, saying “a plaintiff cannot maintain an action such as this where, knowing the facts of a transaction, he nonetheless became a participant in the very action of which he complains,” adding he found no evidence of NCAA misrepresentation, the paper reported.

“We are pleased the court dismissed these baseless allegations with the correct understanding that our ticketing process is lawful and provides full disclosure to our applicants,” NCAA spokesman Erik Christian told USA Today after the ruling was handed down.