Sports Bars Slap Antitrust Lawsuit on NFL and DirecTV

The NFL’s $12 billion deal with DirecTV to be the only provider of all out-of-market games for bars and restaurants is a conspiracy, a class action lawsuit claims. “Of the [four] major professional sports in this country – baseball, basketball, hockey, and football – the only one with an exclusive out of market broadcasting arrangement is the NFL/DirecTV Sunday Ticket,” the complaint states. Other leagues distribute live out of market games through multiple distributors such as Dish Network, Comcast, or Time Warner. That makes those games cheaper, and the plaintiffs are seeking recovery of damages for the “supracompetitive premiums” they’ve been charged by DirecTV, the only choice they have for NFL games.