NFL class action over 2020 Super Bowl live stream glitches settled

Update: 

• The National Football League (NFL) settled a class action lawsuit brought by an NFL Game Pass Pro subscriber who alleged the league was responsible for stream disruptions that occurred on Game Pass Pro’s international stream of the 2020 Super Bowl. 
• Sietel Singh Gill argued in a February 2021 class action lawsuit that between 300,000 to 700,000 international customers received error messages during critical moments of the game in 2020.
• In an order filed Feb. 13 in a New York federal court, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer says the parties settled the claims “in principle.” Details of the settlement were not stated in the order.
• He dismissed the case without prejudice with “the right to reopen the action within 30 days of the date of this order if the settlement is not consummated.” 

NFL game pass pro class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: A federal judge has upheld a class action lawsuit lodged against the National Football League by NFL Game Pass Pro subscriber Sietel Singh Gill. 
• Why: Gill claims the NFL broke its contract with Game Pass Pro subscribers by not properly maintaining its international live streams during the 2020 Super Bowl.
• Where: The class action lawsuit is being litigated in New York federal court. 

(Nov. 4, 2021)

An NFL Game Pass Pro subscriber has overcome the National Football League’s bid to dismiss his class action prompted by international live stream outages.

A federal judge has declined to dismiss the lawsuit that claims the league breached its contract with international customers. Lead plaintiff Sietel Singh Gill claims the league is responsible for stream disruptions that occurred on Game Pass Pro’s international stream of the 2020 Super Bowl. 

Gill, an Australian who says he has been subscribed with Game Pass Pro since 2013, argued in a February class action lawsuit that between 300,000 to 700,000 international customers were shown error messages during critical moments of the game. 

The NFL argued it has contracted Game Pass Pro out to third parties and is no longer responsible for technical difficulties related to its international live viewing product. 

Gill, however, claims he subscribed to Game Pass Pro directly through the NFL and NFL Enterprises, setting it to automatically renew for each new season.

NFL fails to block game pass pro class action ;awsuit

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ruled that, while it is possible the NFL is not responsible, he would first need to see the league’s subscriber agreement with Gill to make a proper determination. 

Further, Engelmayer determined Gill has plausibly pleaded it is the league’s contractual duty to maintain the international live streams. 

“Gill plausibly pleads that there was an agreement between the named defendants and Gill that bound defendants in 2020; whether that is in fact so requires discovery to resolve,” Engelmayer wrote. 

The NFL has argued that in between the time Gill has been a subscriber, it signed over the Game Pass platform to international third-party operators in Italy and the Cayman Islands — absolving itself from its prior contractual obligations.

Engelmayer said he could rule in the NFL’s favor if he is shown proof it released itself of its contractual duties when signing over the product to third-party operators.

“It is possible that, as defendants urge, the NFL and (NFL Enterprises) will be shown not to have been parties to Gill’s contract to obtain Game Pass,” Engelmayer wrote. “But the (complaint) plausibly so pleads.” 

The NFL agreed last month to revise a $1 billion class action settlement between itself and former players who are suffering from brain injuries as a result of their time in the league. 

Are you an NFL Game Pass Pro subscriber who experienced disruptions while watching the international live stream of the 2020 Super Bowl ? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiff is represented by Christopher Kin Leung, Adam Lewis Pollock and Raphael Janove of Pollock Cohen LLP, and Karl Stephen Kronenberger of Kronenberger Rosenfeld LLP.

The NFL Game Pass Pro class action lawsuit is Gill, et al. v. National Football League, et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-01032, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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