MLB sues insurance providers, cites billions in virus losses

[TexasTowelie]

Source: AP

Major League Baseball and all 30 of its teams are suing their insurance providers, citing billions of dollars in losses during the 2020 season played almost entirely without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The suit, filed in October in California Superior Court in Alameda County, was obtained Friday by The Associated Press. It says providers AIG, Factory Mutual and Interstate Fire and Casualty Company have refused to pay claims made by MLB despite the league’s “all-risk” policy purchases.

The league claims to have lost billions of dollars on unsold tickets, hundreds of millions on concessions, tens of millions on parking and millions more on suites and luxury seat licenses, in-park merchandise sales and corporate sponsorships. It also cites over a billion dollars in local and national media losses, plus tens of millions in missed income for MLB Advanced Media. It says all of those losses should be covered by their policies.

MLB cut short spring training and postponed the start of its regular season in March, then began a truncated schedule in late July during which fans were barred from stadiums. Teams were limited to 60 regular-season games, down from 162.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/mlb-baseball-fires-coronavirus-pandemic-221928be3e6f856832e0e28c0e6f879f

[elleng]

1. "all-risk" , eh???

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. They are going to have to find common ground

Otherwlse, they both go down...

[msongs]

3. sorry MLB, shut downs are ordered by governmental agencies nt

[paleotn]

16. Yep, but you can still take out insurance against the impacts....

If you're creative enough, have enough foresight, and can find a carrier dumb enough, you can get insurance written to cover just about anything.

[brush]

4. Oh, right. Good luck with that, baseball.

[EarthFirst]

5. Billionaires being billionaires...

How petty.

Take the fucking loss.

Remember when they were begging for a season because “It’s what the country needs for some semblance of normalcy...”

Not to mention the players; staff and families had unprecedented access to testing and healthcare options unavailable to legitimate essential workers.

This really annoys the shit out of me...

[TeamPooka]

6. Fuck you MLB. You got your TV money

[mpcamb]

10. Ooo! Look at all those former billionaires standing in line at the food bank!

M-mm, not so likely.

[cstanleytech]

7. Do all risk insurance policies include acts of god?

[L.Pharmstrong]

12. Depends on actual policies' language

Whether they cover pathogen-related losses, and whether they include force majeure clauses. Here, one issue appears to be whether the coverage is limited to physical losses only, and the question is whether the virus has caused physical losses.

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Good luck with that

nt

[Aussie105]

9. Sure, open the door!

Open the litigation door for any group that thought they had cover against 'acts of God' for lost income in 2020 compared to 2019.

MLB had better read the fine print on their insurance documents.

[intrepidity]

11. I'll be the contrarian, and ask:

did these insurance companies write policies that they are refusing now to honor?

[L.Pharmstrong]

13. Not really.

There is a dispute as to the scope of the coverage.

[Auggie]

14. Sounds like "all-risk" policies are intentionally ambiguous

[moreland01]

15. Better hurry up

before McConnell convinces Pelosi to protect corporations (including insurance companies, I'm sure) from Covid liability.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/coronavirus-stimulus-updates-mcconnell-defends-liability-protections.html

[dsc]

17. It is easy to deride MLB for suing over this

the fact is many entities are in huge financial trouble due to shut downs and there is some reason to think insurance should cover some of the losses depending upon policies. Event cancellation insurance is quite expensive and if someone bought such insurance it seems reasonable to expect a payout even if you, yourself are rich.

[thesquanderer]

23. MLB's position seems like a stretch

From the article linked in the OP:

Insurers in many cases have insisted that financial losses caused by the coronavirus do not constitute physical loss or property damage. MLB is claiming the virus has led to both.

“The presence of the coronavirus and COVID-19, including but not limited to coronavirus droplets or nuclei on solid surfaces and in the air at insured property, has caused and will continue to cause direct physical damage to physical property and ambient air at the premises,” the suit says. “Coronavirus, a physical substance, has attached and adhered to Plaintiffs’ property and by doing so, altered that property. Such presence has also directly resulted in loss of use of those facilities.”

[paleotn]

18. That should be a fun insurance fight!

Black swans....the things that make an insurance exec wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Taxpayers paid for the stadiums, now we'll pay more for insurance payouts

because all corporations are the same - target return pricing. Once the bottom line falls in one area, they seek to replace it elsewhere.

They say I'm not a slave - born free - but I wind up paying for a thousand things I had nothing to do with.

[Auggie]

21. +1. California's public utility, PG&E, will be charging users 8% more to fund wildfire improvements

Averages out to $13.44 month, or $161 a year. Effective March 2021 through December 2022.

[packman]

20. I get a kick people calling NFL,MLB, Hockey, NBA, etc "Sports"

It's a damn business with fans as their exploited customers.

[gibraltar72]

22. Having made my living in insurance and investing

Even "all risk" policies almost always had exceptions. My guess if they win the companies will just go bankrupt.