Q: If someone get hit by a foul ball during a baseball game. Is the team responsible for negligence liability ? Thank you
Stadium allow fans to carry umbrella, which can blocked his/her view of the foul ball.
A: The short answer is, it depends. There is much controversy here because you may have noticed the increased number of fans being severing injured by foul balls or broken pieces of bats. You may also notice that most professional baseball stadiums today have increased the size and area of the protective screens or netting around the back of the plate. In this case you describe, the baseball organization could be held liable for injuries suffered by fans struck by a foul ball where it knew or should have known of the increased risk of injury in that particular area of the stadium. In addition you raise another interesting point about the use of umbrellas that often times block out the view of a fan seated behind someone with an umbrella opened. I'm not aware of any cases on that point (allowing umbrellas to be opened during a game), but I could see where a team could be held liable for negligence again if it knew or should have known that such a situation where a fan's view of the game and thus the opportunity to avoid being struck by a foul ball is obstructed, that the team could be held responsible.
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