The Athletic class action claims publication operates illegal ‘automatic renewal’ scheme

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

The Athletic automatic renewal class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Five plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against The Athletic Media Company. 
• Why: They claim The Athletic enrolls its subscribers in an automatic renewal program that violates California’s Automatic Renewal Law. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

The Athletic Media Co. runs an illegal “automatic renewal” scheme for subscription plans purchased through both its website and on its mobile application, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Rebecca Kaplan, John Murphy, Johnny Pappas, Michael Tisa and Charlene Egizi claim The Athletic enrolls new subscribers in an automatic renewal program that results in monthly or annual charges. 

The plaintiffs argue The Athletic, however, “fails to provide the requisite disclosures and authorizations” required under California’s Automatic Renewal Law (ARL).

“Defendant fails to adequately disclose the terms of its auto-renewal programs either before or after checkout, and it never requires the individual consumer to read or affirmatively agree to any terms of service,” The Athletic class action states. 

The plaintiffs want to represent a California class of consumers who incurred renewal fees in connection with The Athletic subscription offerings within the applicable statute of limitations. 

The Athletic fails to present automatic renewal offer in ‘clear and conspicuous manner,’ class action says

The Athletic violates the ARL in part by failing to “present the automatic renewal offer terms in a clear and conspicuous manner” and by charging subscribers for the renewals without first “obtaining their affirmative consent to the agreement,” The Athletic class action alleges.

The plaintiffs argue The Athletic also makes it “exceedingly difficult” and “unnecessarily confusing” for subscribers to cancel their subscriptions once they have signed up. 

“The Checkout Page does not mention how subscribers can cancel their subscription or by when cancellation must be affected in order to avoid further renewal charges for the subsequent subscription periods,” The Athletic class action states. 

In addition to allegedly violating the ARL, the plaintiffs claim The Athletic is guilty of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and conversion and is in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. 

The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of actual, compensatory, statutory and/or punitive damages for themselves and all class members.

Last month, Bradford Exchange agreed to pay $475,000 to end claims the company enrolled customers in automatic renewal programs without having consent to do so. 

Have you been unknowingly automatically enrolled in a subscription plan? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Neal J. Deckant, Julia K. Venditti and Frederick J. Klorczyk III of Bursor & Fisher PA. 

The The Athletic automatic renewal class action lawsuit is Kaplan, et al. v. The Athletic Media Co., Case No. 4:23-cv-00229, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• FloSports class action alleges streaming service charged monthly customers for annual subscriptions
• Walmart class action alleges company misleads consumers as to Walmart+ subscription benefits
• HelloFresh class action alleges company spams phones with promotional text messages
• Barkbox sued for auto-renewing subscription boxes for dogs