Judge Certifies Class-Action Football Game Pricing Lawsuit Against EA

[Critical Kills]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

The exclusivity and the fact that NFL brokered the deal as one entity, when the NFL isn't one entity, both play a big part in the lawsuit. Remember, in the lower court, the NFL argued that they were a single-entity, so they couldn't conspire with themselves, and it was perfectly legal for them to exclusively go with Reebok. The lower courts agreed and threw the case out, but American Needle Appealed, and the SCOTUS has declared the NFL to be more than one entity. To me, negotiating exclusive deals with every NFL team would obviously be suspect. Again, how would the deal have looked if Reebok had individually secured the exclusive rights to every team, and locking out American Needle in the process. The NFL, up until now, has been able to construct exclusive deals because they were considered a single-entity. Now they aren't, so I don't understand your logic that the NFL just has to alter the way they broker their exclusive deals. If one team brokers a deal with EA, exclusively, that's fine. If all of the teams sign exclusively with EA, there's is a problem.

If they negotiate as separate entities, as they will, then there will be no legal issue.

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

If they negotiate as separate entities, as they will, then there will be no legal issue.

It will be very difficult for the NFL to convince a court that they're not acting as one entity if every team signs an exclusive deal with a company. First, the deal will be more expensive ,for the licensee, because it's exclusive. Second, all the teams will have to sign for the same price because one team isn't going to take less than another. Imagine the headache if one team got a better price than the other ? This is why the NFL awards blanket licenses, on behalf of all 32 franchises, to licensees. It's avoids headaches like this one. It only becomes illegal once the blanket license eliminates competition,thus hurting the consumer.

If every team, individually, signed the same exclusive deal with a licensee, I don't see how they could convince anyone that they're not conspiring with one another, and the licensee, to eliminate competition.

Also, unless the NFL does away with sharing revenues from merchandise ( the NFL shares revenue from all TV and Merchandise sales) wouldn't sharing the revenue that teams received,from their respective exclusive deals, be considered collusion ?

[RAMSFAN21]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

It will be very difficult for the NFL to convince a court that they're not acting as one entity if every team signs an exclusive deal with a company. First, the deal will be more expensive ,for the licensee, because it's exclusive. Second, all the teams will have to sign for the same price because one team isn't going to take less than another. Imagine the headache if one team got a better price than the other ? This is why the NFL awards blanket licenses, on behalf of all 32 franchises, to licensees. It's avoids headaches like this one. It only becomes illegal once the blanket license eliminates competition,thus hurting the consumer. If every team, individually, signed the same exclusive deal with a licensee, I don't see how they could convince anyone that they're not conspiring with one another, and the licensee, to eliminate competition. Also, I'm not sure about this, but hats and apparel may be different. I don't think that teams share revenue that comes from apparel sales like they do from revenue that's generated from advertising. Certain teams, because of popularity, sell a lot more apparel than others. I doubt owners who sell the most apparel would agree to share the revenue equally with teams that sell the least; that's not fair. With a video game, I doubt any owner would agree to take less than another. Also, I think the league would rather that the revenue they get from video games be shared to better benefit the league. The only (legal) way to share that revenue is to award a blanket license to multiple licensees.

Thank you kind sir

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by RAMSFAN21

Thank you kind sir

I was mistaken about the revenue sharing regarding apparel. The NFL shares all TV and merchandise revenue; however, the fact that merchandise revenue is shared would make it hard for clubs, if they negotiate and sign exclusively with EA, to convince a court that they're not conspiring with each other to eliminate competition.

Even if one team gets more money for their rights than another, all 32 franchises are still sharing that money equally amongst each other.

Any way you slice it, a conspiracy is a conspiracy.

[SmashMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

Any way you slice it, a conspiracy is a conspiracy.

Just because you keep saying that doesn't make it true.

The NFL can't negotiate in the future as a single entity, that's obvious. But there will be nothing legally wrong with teams individually negotiating with EA on their own behalf.

I think we can all agree that competition would be nothing but good; but we're really reaching to define every potential scenario as a conspiracy.

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by SmashMan

Just because you keep saying that doesn't make it true. The NFL can't negotiate in the future as a single entity, that's obvious. But there will be nothing legally wrong with teams individually negotiating with EA on their own behalf. I think we can all agree that competition would be nothing but good; but we're really reaching to define every potential scenario as a conspiracy.

I'm sorry, I don't see how all 32 teams individually signing a deal, to lock out competition, wouldn't be the same difference. If anything, it's a more obvious way doing what they (the NFL) did. If the NFL could have all teams negotiate separately, and avoid anti-trust scrutiny, than why wouldn't they do that in the first place ?

Saying that each individual each team can sign with EA, or whoever else, to avoid anti-trust scrutiny is like saying that the NFL doesn't need anti-trust exemption; it's like saying that whether or not the NFL is a single entity is of no consequence. If that's the case, then why did the NFL use it as their primary argument as to why their deal with Reebok wasn't illegal ? Why did the NFL seek broader anti-trust exemption from the Supreme Court ?

[MJenness]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kaanyr Vhok

Proving it was an anomaly is just as difficult as proving it was a trend mainly because of how well 2k5 sold. It even outsold Madden on the Xbox. It is reasonable to believe there was going to be at least a temporary price war.

Also, if memory serves me correctly, it was VC's plan to offer NFL football at the reduced 19.99 price point for AT LEAST one more year (which didn't happen for obvious reasons)...which really pissed off the NFL AND EA (cause if EA wasn't able to buy the license, they'd have been forced to keep their price of Madden reduced at least one more year).

This whole deal wreaks of callusion, always has...I only hope they dig up enough evidence to show the truth here. At least rattle the cages of EA and the NFL enough for them to say nicht to renewing the exclusive license this time around.

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

Also, if memory serves me correctly, it was VC's plan to offer NFL football at the reduced 19.99 price point for AT LEAST one more year (which didn't happen for obvious reasons)...which really pissed off the NFL AND EA (cause if EA wasn't able to buy the license, they'd have been forced to keep their price of Madden reduced at least one more year). This whole deal wreaks of callusion, always has...I only hope they dig up enough evidence to show the truth here. At least rattle the cages of EA and the NFL enough for them to say nicht to renewing the exclusive license this time around.

This class-action suit really has nothing to do with the NFL; they don't control pricing. If EA had kept the price at 49.99 and just acquired the exclusive license, they would have been in the clear.

What may rattle the NFL's cage is the anti-trust suit with American Needle.