Lawsuit Filed Against Google to Compel Release of Information Regarding NFL Sunday Ticket Deal
Google’s lawyers will be spending some time in court this fall. According to Reuters, Google now faces a lawsuit in federal court, as lawyers representing classes of business and residential subscribers have asked a judge to compel more information out of the company regarding its deal with the NFL for NFL Sunday Ticket.
The plaintiffs in the case are the same groups that are involved in a class-action lawsuit against the league and DIRECTV. The argument at the center of that case is that by forcing customers to choose a single provider for out-of-market NFL games, and by limiting the number of games that appear outside NFL Sunday Ticket, the NFL and DIRECTV violated antitrust laws.
Google is not a defendant in that lawsuit yet, but it has thus far been reticent to give up the documents the plaintiffs are seeking to help them make their case, hence the new suit. The plaintiffs want information from Google including subscriber numbers, rights fees and other financial data. Google’s lawyers have said that producing the requested information would be “unduly burdensome.”
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say that all Google has handed over so far are summary presentations that don’t give any detailed information. They’re seeking any details regarding “influence” placed on Google by the NFL to keep Sunday Ticket games as exclusive as possible.
“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,” representatives wrote in the filing.
Google’s live TV streaming service YouTube TV struck a deal to become the home of NFL Sunday Ticket until 2030 in December 2022. In May of 2023, it was announced that commercial rights to the package would remain with DIRECTV, so bars and restaurants that want to show out-of-market NFL games will have to go with the satellite service.
Google’s lawyers are plenty busy these days, as the company was recently handed a recommendation from the National Advertising Division that it stop advertising YouTube TV as being $600 cheaper than cable. Speculation has arisen that YouTube TV isn't attracting the subscribers it needs to Sunday Ticket, which would be harder for the company to keep silent on if it were compelled to release that data thanks to this new lawsuit.
NFL Sunday Ticket
NFL Sunday Ticket is a subscription video streaming service that allows football fans to watch every live out-of-market NFL game on Sunday afternoons on YouTube or YouTube TV.