DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the orders are affirmed insofar as appealed from, with one bill of costs.
While watching a Hudson Valley Renegades minor league baseball game, the injured plaintiff, Pinaki Ray, allegedly sustained injuries when he was struck by a foul ball behind the dugout at Dutchess Stadium. The plaintiffs allege, inter alia, that the respondents were negligent in failing to provide proper protection to spectators at the stadium.
Contrary to the plaintiffs' contentions, by furnishing sufficient protective netting behind home plate where the danger of being struck by a baseball is the greatest, the proprietor of a ballpark fulfills its duty of care and cannot be held liable in negligence (see Akins v. Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 N.Y.2d 325; Sparks v. Sterling Doubleday Enters., 300 A.D.2d 467). The operators of a ballpark are not insurers of the safety of spectators who choose to occupy unprotected seats (see Davidoff v. Metropolitan Baseball Club, 61 N.Y.2d 996, 998). Here, it is uncontroverted that the stadium had protective netting in the area behind home plate and extending up the foul lines to the dugouts. Thus, the injured plaintiff assumed the risk of injury (see Sparks v. Sterling Doubleday Enters., supra).
The plaintiffs' remaining contentions are without merit.
RITTER, J.P., SMITH, S. MILLER and ADAMS, JJ., concur.