The UFC event was scheduled to take place on the White House South Lawn on June 14, which falls on Flag Day and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, which organizers said was part of celebrations for America’s 250th independence.
The plaintiffs said the move violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands and that the venue construction lacked both congressional authorization and environmental review.
“The event is neither ‘for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence’ nor, crucially, being ‘planned, organized, and executed’ by the federal government,” the plaintiffs said in the suit.
“Rather, UFC Freedom 250 is a private, for-profit sporting event being ‘planned, organized, and executed’ by the UFC, its broadcast partners, and its advertisers, not by the federal government.”
They argued that the event failed to meet the requirements for authorization under the National Park Service’s temporary rule enacted for the 250th anniversary, which allows the agency to disregard its permit rules and authorize “special events planned, organized, and executed” by federal agencies.