Google’s expensive purchase of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package has come with a free side of litigation.
According to Reuters, Google has been sued for information relevant to the pending class action lawsuit against the NFL and DirecTV over the Sunday Ticket package.
Google allegedly has failed and refused to provide information regarding retail pricing, rights fees, and subscriber numbers for Sunday Ticket. Google previously has claimed that the production of the requested information would be “unduly burdensome.” Eventually, Google agreed to provide only three documents, characterized as “summary presentations” regarding the arrangement with the league.
The apparent goal is to explore whether the NFL placed restrictions on Google similar to restrictions allegedly placed on DirecTV regarding the price of the package and the requirement that consumers purchase all games over all weeks, or none at all.
“Evidence that the NFL imposed restrictions on Google will support plaintiffs’ claims that the NFL imposed these same restraints on DirecTV during the class period, to the detriment of consumers,” attorneys for the class alleged in the new claim against Google and YouTube.
The effort to prove NFL control and influence over Google’s pricing comes at a time when the league has filed what’s known as a motion for summary judgment in the case. The basic argument in such motions is that there is no need for a trial because there is no dispute regarding any material fact that must be resolved by a jury, and that the case can be resolved by the judge applying the law to the undisputed record in the case.
The question becomes whether the NFL fixed Sunday Ticket pricing in a way that violates antitrust law. Suggestions have emerged that Apple, which bid on the package, wanted to make Sunday Ticket available to consumers at a much lower price.
The league enjoys a broadcast antitrust exemption, but there could be limits to the application of the license to shop TV rights as a collective. This litigation could test, and could show, that there are certain things that can’t be done when it comes to setting the price and the terms that consumers must pay to watch their favorite teams’ game, if those games aren’t broadcast in the relevant local market.
