Facts

Daniel Santillano filed suit against Fresno Baseball Club LLC dba Fresno Grizzlies and Fresno Sports and Events LLC dba Fresno Grizzlies, and Fresno Sports Management LLC in relation to an incident in which Santillano was struck by a foul ball that bounced off a seat at a minor league baseball game.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Santillano contended that he attended a Fresno Grizzlies minor league baseball game at Chuckchansi Park when a foul ball ricocheted off a seat and struck him in the eye at a high rate of speed. Santillano claimed he did not see the foul ball coming toward him because of many distractions in the stadium and poor lighting conditions, and defendants had a duty to protect him from foreseeable dangers such as foul balls. Santillano alleged defendants failed to have protective netting in place to prevent incidents such as this from occurring, and a protective netting was in fact later installed.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended that Santillano knew there was a risk of being injured by a batted ball and he assumed that risk. Defendants claimed that there was an express agreement on the back of the ticket Santillano purchased, and the scope of the agreement covered situations such as the one giving rise to these claims. Further, defendants argued the risk of a foul ball hitting spectators, even if it bounces off another surface, is foreseeable and obvious. Defendants claimed Santillano did not provide any evidence disputing defendants' established defenses of express assumption of risk or primary assumption of risk.

Result

The court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment. The court concluded that Santillano expressly assumed the risk of being struck by a foul ball, an inherent risk of attending a baseball game, when he purchased his ticket to the game. The court further found that defendants did not owe Santillano a duty to protect him against the danger of foul balls.