By Melissa Angell

Law360 (March 16, 2021, 10:22 PM EDT) -- The Philadelphia Eagles organization has sued its property insurer in Pennsylvania state court, arguing that the insurer wrongfully denied coverage for the team's hefty losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team holds a policy with Factory Mutual Insurance Company that extends coverage capped at $1 billion per occurrence for "all risks of physical loss or damage," the Thursday complaint says. The team argues that the policy's "time element" coverage should be triggered and that the insurer is on the line for covering business interruption losses.

But Factory Mutual denied the team coverage due to the policy's "contamination" exclusion, according to the complaint.

"Befitting the top dollar that the Eagles paid for best-in-class insurance coverage, the policy promises to afford broad protections against the risks of pandemic-related losses," the complaint says.

The team argues that the exclusion fails to define terms such as "communicable disease," which therefore means that it was intentionally excluded under the policy, the complaint says. The Eagles also argue that the contamination exclusion foregoes coverage only toward contamination and any direct costs, rather than loss or damage.

The team said that contamination exclusions apply to traditional pollution, not natural catastrophes like a pandemic.

"The actual and/or threatened presence of coronavirus particles at the Eagles' premises rendered physical property within the premises damaged, unusable, uninhabitable, unfit for intended function, dangerous, and unsafe," the complaint says. "It impaired and diminished the value, utility and normal function of the premises."

The Eagles say they were forced to cancel or place significant restrictions on in-person attendance at all games held at Lincoln Financial Field because of the coronavirus, which has significantly impacted their revenue streams, according to the complaint. The team even closed its corporate headquarters, training facility and merchandise stores in the wake of active cases on the premises.

The question of whether businesses are incurring physical damage from the pandemic worthy of loss coverage has fueled debate, as business owners face off with insurers in court over pandemic-related loss claims.

In fact, sport teams are joining the chorus of other businesses taking their insurers to court to pursue COVID-19 coverage. One of the latest teams to do so is the Los Angeles Lakers, who hit the courts yesterday with their insurance coverage beef.

And last week, the owners of the Sacramento Kings claimed they were owed $850 million for pandemic-related losses from having to cancel live entertainment events in response to government shutdown orders. Factory Mutual must cover business interruption losses arising from canceled events such as NBA basketball games, NCAA tournament games, concerts by Billie Eilish and Camila Cabello and a talk by former first lady Michelle Obama, according to the suit filed by the Sacramento Kings Limited Partnership and a group of other Sacramento retail and hospitality owners.

Representatives for the insurer did not immediately respond to Law360's request for comment on Tuesday. Counsel for the Eagles declined to comment on Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Eagles are represented by Charles Fitzpatrick IV, Linda Kornfeld and James Murray of Blank Rome LLP.

Counsel information for the insurer could not be ascertained on Tuesday.

The case is Philadelphia Eagles Limited Partnership v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, case number 210301454, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath. Editing by Regan Estes.

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