Insider published articles stating the business reasons and legal reasons for inserting right of first refusal clauses in billboard leases. Insider received this pushback from a landlord/billboard lease holder:
I find your article regarding ROFRs to be so landlord unfriendly and completely unnecessary for a billboard company to obtain. I think this type of clause, and spreading the word around the industry, limits competition and could easily be viewed as anti-competitive by the FTC. Further, this acts to limit one’s ability to sell their property at the highest possible price as no real estate buyer wants to act as a “stalking horse” when someone else has the right to match their offer and buy the property. To take advantage of unsuspecting landlords is unethical and gives the industry a bad name.