3 Text Messages to Fan Cost Buffalo Bills $3M

In a case most commentators are calling frivolous, finicky, or just plain silly, the Buffalo Bills have coughed up $3 million to settle a lawsuit from a fan who complained that the team sent him too many text messages. The fan brought the class-action suit after he signed up for the team's news service, which promised three to five texts a week, but then received six messages one week and seven the next, reports the Buffalo News.

The fan claimed that the extra messages violated the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and sought damages of around $2,000 per message. Under the terms of the settlement, the tens of thousands of fans who signed up for the now-defunct service will receive a total of around $2.5 million in the form of debit cards redeemable only at the team's store, the New York Post reports. The fan's lawyers will receive more than $500,000 under the settlement and he will get $5,000. (More Buffalo Bills stories.)