National Football League

Judge: Goodell fair game in lawsuits

Published Jul. 10, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

A Texas judge has ruled that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can be questioned by attorneys for ticket-holders who sued after they were displaced when seats weren't properly installed for the 2011 Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

The U.S. magistrate judge's ruling issued Wednesday in Dallas says depositions of Goodell must be at NFL headquarters in New York no later than Aug. 5.

About 1,250 temporary seats at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington were deemed unsafe just hours before the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. That forced about 850 ticket-holders to move to new seats, and 400 others to watch from standing-room locations.

The ruling limited the scope of questions to Goodell, but included his involvement in ''any attempt or goal'' to break the NFL's Super Bowl attendance record.