NFL, DirecTV Face Class-Action Antitrust Lawsuit Over Sunday Ticket Prices

Law firms Hausfeld LLP and Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP filed a complaint against DirecTV and the NFL alleging that their exclusive agreement with respect to NFL Sunday Ticket is anticompetitive and harms commercial entities, such as bars and restaurants, that rely on Sunday Ticket to attract patrons on Sunday afternoons during football season. The suit seeks to recover damages for the overcharges stemming from this anticompetitive agreement and an injunction against the enforcement of the exclusivity provision of the NFL's agreement with DirecTV (THE DAILY). DEADLINE.com's Dominic Patten reported the proposed class action filed on behalf of S.F. bar The Mucky Duck seeks to "free such establishments from what they see as the exorbitant prices they are currently paying to the league to show out of market games via the satellite provider’s Sunday Ticket package." It also challenges the "very nature of the exclusive deal the NFL and DirecTV have" (DEADLINE.com, 7/14).

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: In N.Y., Claire Atkinson notes the suit alleges the league and DirecTV are "colluding to overcharge the small business owners for the right to show out-of-town games to their customers." It is alleged that DirecTV charges bars $2,314-120,000 a year for Sunday Ticket, "depending on their size." The suit "comes at an awkward time for DirecTV -- regulators are weighing whether to approve" AT&T’s $50B purchase of the satellite TV provider. Attorney Michael Hausfeld, who successfully sued the NCAA to get college basketball players paid for the use of their likenesses in video games, said he filed the suit now because “enough is enough.” Atkinson notes the group also believes AT&T "will jack up their rates once it owns DirecTV." Hausfeld: “It’s a given pattern. DirecTV is ready to increase the fees again. It’s already increased them 100 percent to date. That’s unconscionable.” He added that the suit "may attract interest from distributors, such as cable operators, who may have a stake in upending DirecTV’s hold on the NFL contract," which runs through the '22-23 season at $1.5B a season (N.Y. POST, 7/15). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Eriq Gardner wrote the lawsuit paints a "broader picture why the NFL's deal with DirecTV should be deemed a violation of two sections of the Sherman Antitrust Act." The plaintiffs are "attacking the very essence of a professional sports league striking an exclusive television deal." They are "not only filing a lawsuit over the arrangement that NFL teams have with each other, but also one that challenges the limiting of Sunday Ticket distribution to just DirecTV" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 7/14).