October 25, 2019 Advertising / Class Actions / Hockey / Litigation / NHL / Privacy Rights

TCPA Lawsuit Against Tampa Bay Lightning Reaches Class Settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against the Tampa Bay Lightning, in which a fan claimed that the NHL team violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by flooding him with unwanted text messages.

Plaintiff Brian Hanley claimed that the team violated the TCPA by using a bait-and-switch tactic. Hanley was under the impression that he had entered a ticket contest for a future Lightning game by texting a short code number. Instead, he had inadvertently signed up for an advertising …

August 26, 2019 Baseball / MLB

Judge Recuses Himself from TCPA Lawsuit Against Tampa Bay Rays

After consulting with an ethics opinion, Florida U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony E. Porcelli recused himself from a proposed class action lawsuit, which accuses the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending spam text messages.

According to the order, Judge Porcelli stated that he “. . . find[s] it appropriate to recuse myself from these proceedings, as my impartiality might be reasonably questioned.” Specifically, Judge Porcelli admittedly communicated with several members of the Rays organization when he was …

March 7, 2019 General

Sports Betting Website Sued Over Mass Texts

Sideline Marketing, Inc. has been accused of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited advertisements via text messages. The proposed class action was filed in Florida federal court on February 22, 2019.

The lead plaintiff Steven Saul alleges in his complaint that Sideline Marketing bombarded individuals with unwanted text messages, sending spam texts advertising its sports betting advice service on BlowoutPicks.com. The suit claims that these bulk spam messages were sent without the recipients’ permission by an automatic telephone dialing system, and that …

June 20, 2016 Fantasy Sports

DraftKings Automated Text Class Action Continues

DraftKings has been subject to ongoing legal scrutiny and the legality of online fantasy leagues hosted by companies like DraftKings and FanDuel has been debated over the past years. Along with questions surrounding potential anti-gambling law violations, stakeholders are also questioning the truthfulness of the aggressive advertisement tactics employed.

In October 2014, Izsak expressed his displeasure with DraftKings advertising tactics by filing a class action suit in Illinois federal court. He claims that on September 1, 2014, he received an unsolicited text message from DraftKings, …