Posted on 01/16/2024 8:16:14 AM PST by trebb
A decades-long legal battle over the part of the NFL's television package may soon be decided and the verdict could cause a broadcasting earthquake that would affect all of the league's 32 teams, Deadline has reported.
The $6.1 billion lawsuit was first filed in 2015 when Sunday Ticket was on DirecTV and was bought by "2.4 million Sunday Ticket subscribers in the residential class and nearly 50,000 bars, restaurants, and other establishments in the commercial class," Deadline reported.
The essence of the class-action suit is that fans were compelled to pay higher than market prices to the NFL to watch out-of-market games on the Sunday Ticket package in direct violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
They may get a slap on the wrist but no spanking like they deserve.
Artificial scarcity is the american way.
Controlling the means of distribution is what it’s all about.
Taking it off of broadcast media (broadcast is basically dead, but TV contracts had to this point still been made with legacy broadcast networks that were still made publicly available by law) is the latest problem for them to solve.
This isn’t just for capitalists, although they have nearly perfected the art and science of controlling access to things that are not inherently easy to control. The marxists want to make all forms of energy consumption illegal except their own limited supply (renewable) energy sources.
They need to be ridiculed while being seriously condemned for what they’re doing. On Jan. 21, 2025-POTUS Trump should put VP John Kennedy in charge of this charge. Start it off on Feb. 1-Black history month. Those folks know more about getting screwed and the NFL will be in it’s orgasmic super bowl mode. Sacred cows need to be confronted.
Taylor Swift then performs a world-wide concert competing directly with the game. This is after her breakup with that football player.
So, how much money will I get back?????¿..
Wifey is a Steelers fan, and they typically aren’t on in our area. We used an app called DofuSports that allows you to stream any game anywhere for free. You have to refresh the stream now and then as moderators don’t want you watching what the NFL has deemed you will not see. I am not in any way a football fan, but I love using that app as a finger poke in the eye of NFL overlords.
Is the Super Bowl actually going to be on Peacock exclusively? Or did you mean the Miami/KC game?
Who declares what the market value is? The NFL said “if you want this you have to pay X”. And people paid it. If enough people had refused to pay it the price would have gone down. They didn’t, thus that is the market rate.
Legally, the issue is that NFL teams are individual businesses but they function as a cartel under the umbrella of the NFL when it comes to TV deals, merchandising licenses, etc.
This would never be permitted in any other industry. If all the residential contractors in your area got together and established fixed rates for various home repairs, or all the auto mechanics colluded to fix rates for auto repairs, they’d be sued out of existence by the U.S. government.
Although it’s not really as grey as you’d think. This was actually all settled by the Supreme Court in ‘61 (maybe ‘60) when somebody sued the NFL over selling TV contracts in a block. The Court it made perfectly good sense for sports leagues to be able to do that, yes they’re kind of a monopoly in that there’s only 1 of each league, but in the long run it’s better for the teams and fans for league wide contracts to exist. Then of course Congress chimed in with the Sports Broadcasting Act. But from everything I can tell that’s really just Congress pretending they have power.
And of course one can argue if they’re REALLY a monopoly. Especially these days with other pro football leagues and the college football moving further and further away from the veneer of amateurism (and this is similarly true in all the other sports). When you get right down to it the only the NFL is a monopoly in is being the NFL. And everybody is a monopoly in that.
Funny you mention auto repair. Reminds me of the infamous Ford timing belt wrench. There was a time there in the 80s and 90s where Ford had stuck the most important bolt for changing a timing belt in a real PITA place and you pretty much could only get to it if you used a wrench they sold (at serious $$$) specifically designed (and patented) to get to that bolt. So you could only that very important piece of maintenance done at Ford “approved” shops. Of course this turned into one of the many reasons to not buy Ford since their timing belts were more expensive to replace than anybody else.
In the long run this suit is probably going nowhere. Between the SBA and the old Court ruling the NFL, and the other leagues, is allowed to do this. And if they really have to the “what exactly are we a monopoly in?” defense is there for them, if the timing is right they can turn on a UFL game as part of their defense.
“Who declares what the market value is? The NFL said “if you want this you have to pay X”. And people paid it. If enough people had refused to pay it the price would have gone down. They didn’t, thus that is the market rate.”
Zackly - there’s those here bitching about the NFL trying to charge more and who have bought all the sports packages available - they are now surprised....
I don’t know - and don’t really care - haven’t watched more than 15 minutes of a game in a few years and didn’t watch the last 3 Super Bowls - some her indicated it would be exclusively on Peacock and since they care so much, I figured they probably had the right info.
Why don’t you hire your own lawyer and do a “side-suit”?
I remember when a ,lot of folks here ‘swore off” the NFL for going so woke and allowing their players to dishonor the flag, etc.
Now their bitching about their “Package deals they spent cash on not being worth as much as they were.
The solution is to actually do what they said they would do - stop watching and supporting them.
Yep - and it’s only a crime if the artificial scarcity is a needed item - easiest way for the “fans” to be heard is for them to stop bending over and supporting them with their “Sunday Pass” and other sports packages - like so many claimed they would do in the midst of the Kaepernick deal and so many teams allowing their players to publicly poke a finger in America’s eye...I guess their “principles” weren’t as offended as they claimed...
A lawyer would cost more than what I paid for NFL Sunday Ticket, about $250 per year, IIRC. And we had it for 2 or 3 years. This was well before the Kneeling Kaepernicks....................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.