Central California Named New Home for NFL Sunday Ticket Litigation

On December 8, 2015, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated and assigned multiple antitrust lawsuits challenging the NFL’s exclusive broadcasting agreement with Direct TV to Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell in the Central District of California.

The antitrust suits challenge the agreement the NFL has with DirectTV, granting DirectTV exclusive access to all NFL games. Because of the exclusive agreement, football fans can only view out-of-market games if they have Direct TV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package. Surely, fans who do not have Sunday Ticket …

December 8, 2015 Advertising / Antitrust / Golf / Litigation

Judge Alludes to Dismissal of Caddy Ad Lawsuit

At a hearing on Thursday, December 3, 2015, U.S. District Judge Vince Chabbria indicated that he is likely to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit brought by professional caddies against PGA Tour, Inc.

In February 2015, professional caddie Mike Hicks and 81 others filed a class-action antitrust suit against the PGA Tour in a California federal court, alleging the Tour’s misappropriation of their “likeness and images in commercial activities.” The caddies seek for a share of revenue flowing in from caddies wearing bibs that display sponsors’ logos, …

December 7, 2015 Antitrust / NBA

Stubhub Files Notice of Appeal in Antitrust Lawsuit

On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, Stubhub filed its Notice of Appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, urging the Circuit Court to review its recently dismissed lawsuit against the reigning NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors.

Stubhub originally filed its lawsuit in April, alleging that the Warriors violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by restricting the “resale” of season tickets to Ticketmaster’s platform. The Warriors and Ticketmaster countered with a motion to dismiss, arguing that Stubhub failed to allege a …

November 10, 2015 Antitrust / NBA

StubHub Antitrust Suit Dismissed

The Golden State Warriors, the NBA’s reigning champions, won another victory last week, this time in the courtroom. On Thursday, November 5, 2015, a federal judge dismissed StubHub’s antitrust action against the Warriors and Ticketmaster.

StubHub filed suit in April, alleging that the Warriors violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by restricting the resale of season tickets to Ticketmaster’s platform. The complaint alleged that the Warriors threatened to revoke ticket privileges, deny first bid at playoff tickets, and refusal to invite ticket holders back next …

November 10, 2015 Antitrust / Litigation / NCAA

Former Weber State Cornerback Files Antitrust Class Action Against NCAA

On November 5, 2015, a class action was filed against the NCAA in Indiana federal court. The NCAA, which has been the target of several lawsuits over student-athlete compensation restrictions, is now being attacked for anti-competitive transfer regulations.

Devin Pugh, named plaintiff and former Weber State cornerback, challenges the NCAA’s year-in-residence requirement and seeks to abolish scholarship caps. The NCAA’s current residency restrictions require student-athletes to take one season off when transferring between top-level schools. In the complaint, Pugh urges that the “NCAA’s limitation on …

October 23, 2015 Antitrust / NFL

NFL and DirecTV’s “Sunday Ticket” Subject of Antitrust Lawsuit

On Friday, October 16, 2015, five plaintiffs brought suit against the NFL, its 32 teams, DirecTV, CBS, NBC, Fox, and ESPN, alleging that current NFL broadcasting agreements violate the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

The plaintiffs allege that DirecTV’s “NFL Sunday Ticket” stifles competition and unfairly raises prices. Currently, the NFL Sunday Ticket — an out-of-market sports package — is the only way for viewers to watch regular season games outside of the limited games available on CBS, NBC, Fox, NFL Network, and ESPN. This, the plaintiffs …

October 22, 2015 Antitrust / Copyright / Litigation / NFL

NFL and Others Seek Continued Stay in Discovery Proceedings — At Least for Now

The National Football League, Associated Press, and seven professional photographers recently took shots at each other in an attempt to persuade the court on whether or not to grant a motion to stay discovery indefinitely, or at least until the federal court has had the opportunity to rule on the defendants’ motions to dismiss. Brought in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit relates to claims made by the photographers against the NFL, AP, Getty Images, and NFL Replay for copyright infringement and antitrust …

October 22, 2015 Antitrust / MLB

Major League Baseball Strikes Back Against Request from Fans for Deposition

On October 19, 2015, Major League Baseball and its co-defendants quickly responded to a letter written by baseball fans to Hon. Judge Scheindlin asking for permission to depose Commissioner Robert Manfred. While the fans in the antitrust lawsuit are seeking to depose the Commissioner in regards to MLB broadening the topics Mr. Manfred is to testify to at trial, the defendants responded with some rather convincing arguments to Judge Scheindlin in opposition.

First, MLB argues that the fans should not be able to depose the …

October 19, 2015 Antitrust / MLB

Fans Write Judge, Seek Commissioner’s Deposition

On October 14, 2015, a letter was written to Hon. Judge Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York asking for the opportunity to depose MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred. The letter, written by counsel representing a class of baseball fans, is in relation to an antitrust class action suit filed in 2012 against Major League Baseball and its broadcasting blackout rules. The fans are challenging the restrictions that MLB and the major cable and satellite companies are able to impose on local television broadcasting for …

October 16, 2015 Antitrust / PGA

PGA Tour – Not Quite Out of the Rough Just Yet

On Friday, October 9, 2015, attorneys for a group of professional caddies filed a motion in opposition of dismissal against the PGA Tour, citing violations of antitrust law, the Sherman Act, and the Lanham Act. The class action lawsuit, originally filed in February, centers around the issues of forced advertisement without proper remuneration and unfair trade practices, as the caddies argue the Tour obligated the plaintiffs wear bibs adorned with corporate sponsors not chosen by them at televised tournaments.

In opposition to the now second …