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After acquiring the NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV, Google has now found itself involved in a lawsuit.
From the sounds of it, the lawsuit originally began when the Sunday Ticket was still with DirecTV.
According to Reuters, “Google has been hit with a lawsuit in US federal court seeking information about its multibillion-dollar deal with the National Football League to exclusively hold the broadcast rights for the ‘Sunday Ticket’ package of televised professional games.”
Reports indicate that residential and commercial business subscribers of Sunday Ticket “asked a judge to compel Google to respond to a demand for information in the plaintiffs’ case against the NFL and DirecTV.”
This all stems from a lawsuit with the NFL, teams, and DirecTV. However, the people involved in the lawsuit want Google to provide specific information that may or may not help their case.
Reuters reports that “plaintiffs are seeking $6 billion in damages for their claims that the NFL, its teams, and DirecTV conspired to curb availability of televised games, which artificially boosted the price of Sunday Ticket.”
The information plaintiffs are seeking from Google includes “retail pricing, rights fees, and subscriber numbers. The attorneys said they want to learn more about any ‘influence’ the NFL has placed on Google,’ via Reuters.
“Google isn’t a party in the long-running antitrust litigation, set for trial early next year,” per Reuters. Even so, plaintiffs are hoping the technology giant can provide information about the lawsuit on hand.
So far, nothing has progressed forward, as Google claims that finding the information would be “unduly burdensome.”
NFL Sunday Ticket begins airing on YouTube TV this year and will run until 2030. So, maybe this whole lawsuit can be settled well before then.
With that said, it’s important to note that Google is not involved in the “long-running antitrust litigation, set for trial early next year.” Instead, they’re dealing with their own lawsuit over specific information.
So, YouTube TV subscribers who paid for Sunday Ticket probably don’t have to worry about losing their package. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon.