Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: MLB, baseball fans settle out-of-market sports packages case, (Jan 19, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:AT&T/DIRECTV | Comcast | Comcast Corp. | DirecTV | Major League Baseball | National Hockey League
By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.
A settlement has been reached, resolving consumer claims that Major League Baseball and others conspired—by way of black-out or non-compete agreements—to require consumers to purchase all “out-of-market” hockey or baseball games, even if they were interested in viewing only a particular game or games of one particular team located outside of their local markets, according to a statement issued by Major League Baseball (Laumann v. National Hockey League, January 19, 2016).
In 2012, subscribers to Internet or television services, offering live telecasts of “out-of-market” hockey and baseball games, filed suit against National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), alleging a conspiracy involving the NHL, MLB, various clubs within the leagues, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs)—such cable distributor Comcast and satellite distributor DirecTV—and regional sports networks (RSNs). The sports fans alleged that, as a result of black-out or non-compete agreements, they were required to purchase all “out-of-market” hockey or baseball games, even if they were interested in viewing only a particular game or games of one particular team located outside of their local markets.
In December 2012, the defendants’ motion to dismiss was denied. The court also rejected the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in August 2014, ruling that the antitrust exemption for baseball did not extend to the challenged territorial broadcasting restrictions. In June 2015, a settlement between the consumers and the NHL, DirecTV, and Comcast was preliminarily approved by the court. That proposed settlement had no effect on the current case, Garber v. Major League Baseball, which was previously consolidated with Laumann v. National Hockey League.
In its statement, MLB confirmed that a settlement had been reached shortly before the parties were set to begin a bench trial. However, no details of the settlement were provided.
Companies: National Hockey League; Major League Baseball; DirecTV; Comcast Corp.
News: Antitrust NewYorkNews