US: Antitrust suit against NFL and DirecTV filed

A class action attacking the Sunday Ticket package was filed Wednesday in California. PFT has obtained a copy of the complaint filed by Thomas Abrahamian against the NFL, DirecTV, and related defendants.

The lawsuit accuses the NFL and DirecTV of violating federal antitrust laws by requiring consumers to purchase all Sunday afternoon out-of-market games, even if the customer wants to see the out-of-market games for one team only. Over the years, the Sunday Ticket package has been marketed from time to time specifically to those consumers.

“The League and DirecTV offer NFL Sunday Ticket only as all-or-nothing,” the complaint alleges at paragraph 36. “Purchasers of NFL Sunday Ticket must buy all out-of-market games for all teams even if they are only interested in watching the games of a particular team. Likewise, consumers must buy the complete season of games and may not purchase individual games.”

The NFL surely will argue that the broadcast antitrust exemption which allows games of separate teams to be bundled and sold to the networks allows that same bundling to occur when selling the games to consumers, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Full content: The Hollywood Reporter

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