DirecTV, NFL Face Another NFL Sunday Ticket Class Action Lawsuit

Last week, yet another proposed class action lawsuit was filed against DirecTV and the NFL for their alleged illegal monopoly of Sunday Ticket programming. This comes just one week after Ninth Inning Inc., the plaintiff and bar owner who filed another lawsuit over Sunday Ticket, asked the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation to consolidate the eight Sunday Ticket lawsuits filed in the Central District of California.

Jammers Inc. is the newest plaintiff to bring forth charges regarding Sunday Ticket programming. Jammers does business in Los Angeles as Flight’s Beer Bar. The proposed class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of businesses nationwide who may be victims of price gouging by the defendants who allegedly have a monopoly over the programming. The NFL Sunday Ticket is the only company to broadcast out-of-market games in the United States.

DirecTV claims on its website, “Only DIRECTV brings you every play of every out-of-market game, every Sunday. Get on the action on your TV with NFL SUNDAY TICKET.” According to the class action lawsuit, “Exclusivity is not required to bring the NFL Sunday Ticket to market and serves no purpose other than to extract monopolistic fees.”

Interestingly, Canada does not offer NFL Sunday ticket solely through one outlet. The court documents name 15 total markets in Canada where the programming is available, making pricing more competitive and customers are not forced to pay outrageous pricing.

It is estimated that a bar with between 51 and 100 viewers will pay $2,314 for Sunday Ticket in 2015 (in addition to other DirecTV fees) and large establishments like Nevada hotels pay over $120,000 for the program. The NFL is the only one of the four major sports (baseball, hockey and basketball being the others) that have an exclusivity agreement with one television service provider.

Jammers brings forth three counts against the NFL and DirecTV: Two counts of violating Section 1 the Sherman Act (for per Se Violation and Rule of Reason) and one count of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

These counts allege that the defendants have entered into a contract or conspiracy with the 32 NFL member teams, the NFL and DirecTV to offer NFL Sunday Ticket programming exclusively through DirecTV and prevents any competitor from offering the programming. This alleged monopoly has caused the plaintiff and proposed Class antitrust injuries and damage, the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff is seeking certification of the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit, relief of three times the amount of damages to the plaintiff and Class as allowed by law, attorneys’ fees, and pre-and post judgments. Jammers is also seeking a court order to stop the defendants and co-conspirators from further violating the antitrust laws.

Jammers is represented by Caleb Marker, Brian C. Gudmundson and Jason R. Lee of Zimmerman Reed LLP and Arthur M. Murray of Murray Law Firm.

The NFL Sunday Ticket Class Action Lawsuit is Jammers Inc. v. National Football League Inc., et al., Case No. 15-cv-06959, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.