Copa América $14 Million Settlement: How to File and Deadlines

The Copa América final settlement is a $14 million class action fund that will reimburse fans who held tickets to the July 14, 2024 Argentina–Colombia match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and were either locked out entirely or unable to reach their seats after unticketed crowds overwhelmed the gates. A federal judge granted preliminary approval on November 25, 2025, and claims must be submitted by August 11, 2026.¹²

Who Qualifies and How Much You Can Get

The settlement splits eligible ticketholders into two classes with very different payouts.

The Denied Entry Class covers people who were turned away from the stadium entirely. Members of this group can claim reimbursement of out-of-pocket ticket costs up to $2,000 per ticket, plus up to $300 per person in travel expenses, with a combined cap of $2,000 per ticket.¹

The Denied Full Access Class covers ticketholders who made it inside but couldn’t reach their purchased seats, use concessions, or otherwise enjoy the facilities as expected. Members of this group are eligible for a flat $100 payment per ticket.¹

If approved claims exceed the fund, the Denied Full Access payments get reduced first, though not below $50 per ticket, so people who were locked out entirely stay closer to their full award.¹ Any money left after a second distribution round returns to the defendants.

The settlement does not cover personal injury claims. It reimburses ticket and travel costs only.

How To File a Claim

Claims can be filed online at FinalMatchSettlement.com or mailed to the settlement administrator, Angeion Group, at Copa America Settlement, c/o Settlement Administrator, 1650 Arch Street, Suite 2210, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Only one claim form per household is allowed.¹

Every claimant must provide proof of ticket purchase and affirm that they were denied entry or full access and haven’t already been refunded for the expenses being claimed. Denied Entry Class members have an added requirement: a date- and time-stamped photo or video showing they were at the stadium, or a valid photo ID for identity verification, which may involve facial recognition technology.¹

Approved payments can be sent by Venmo, PayPal, ACH, or Zelle.³ Checks expire 90 days after they’re issued.

Key Deadlines

Opt-out and objection deadline: March 25, 2026
Final fairness hearing: May 13, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 10-2 at the federal courthouse in Miami
Claim filing deadline: August 11, 2026²¹

No payments will go out until the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.

What the Lawsuit Alleged

Lead plaintiff Das Nobel filed a federal class action on July 19, 2024, five days after the final, in the Southern District of Florida. The case, Nobel, et al. v. South Florida Stadium LLC, et al. (Case No. 1:24-cv-22751-BB), named South Florida Stadium LLC, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and BEST Crowd Management, Inc. as defendants. Several related county-court class actions were later consolidated into it.⁴⁵

The complaint alleged the defendants negligently failed to set up adequate security perimeters, barricades, metal detectors, and ticket scanners; let thousands of unticketed people onto stadium grounds; and then opened the gates to the general public to prevent a stampede, filling the stadium beyond capacity and shutting out valid ticketholders.⁶ All defendants denied wrongdoing, fault, and liability, and the settlement contains no admission.¹

Class counsel — led by Varnell & Warwick, P.A. along with Ayala Law, Hiraldo P.A., Moore Law, Squitieri & Fearon LLP, and Jonathan Lee Borsuk PC — plan to ask for attorneys’ fees of up to 25% of the fund, or $3.5 million, and each of the six named plaintiffs may receive a $5,000 service award.⁷

What Happened That Night

An after-action report by the Miami-Dade County Strategic Response Division, released in December 2024, found that 20,000 to 30,000 people arrived at Hard Rock Stadium planning to crash the entry gates. The stadium had sold roughly 65,000 tickets for the match.⁸⁹

To prevent a crush, Miami-Dade Police and Fire Rescue ordered the gates opened before kickoff. Once the venue was overrun, security shut them again, locking out thousands of people with valid tickets. Fans who did get inside found closed concession and merchandise stands, and some left early over safety concerns. Kickoff was delayed by roughly 80 minutes.⁹¹⁰

The report attributed the breakdown to a lack of intelligence about the planned gate-crashing, insufficient security perimeters, the stadium’s decision to allow unticketed pedestrians and vehicles onto the grounds, and the “rampant use of photo tickets” by tournament organizers, which made fraud and duplication easy. Nearly 800 police officers had been assigned to the event.⁸⁹

Miami-Dade Police reported 27 arrests and 55 ejections that night. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to 120 incidents, 116 of them medical.¹⁰ If any of those medical incidents involved you or someone in your party, the settlement doesn’t cover those injuries; it reimburses ticket and travel losses only.

1
FinalMatchSettlement.com. FAQs
2
ClassAction.org. Preliminary Approval Order
3
FinalMatchSettlement.com. Final Match Settlement Home
4
ClassAction.org. Copa América Final Lawsuit Filed by Soccer Fans Locked Out of Hard Rock Stadium
5
The New York Times / The Athletic. Copa America Final Chaos Legal
6
ClassAction.org. Nobel v. South Florida Stadium LLC – Complaint
7
ClassAction.org. Long Form Notice
8
ESPN. Copa America Final Fan Chaos Security Miami Argentina Colombia
9
Miami Herald. Copa America Final Chaos at Hard Rock Stadium
10
ESPN. Copa America Organizers Settle for $14M Over Final Debacle