The NBA's decision to unbundle League Pass follows the settlement of a lawsuit filed against the National Hockey League. Hockey fans filed a class-action complaint against the NHL to similarly unbundle the league's streaming package.
The NBA's decision could be a harbinger for one of pay-TV's biggest products, the DirecTV-distributed NFL package NFL Sunday Ticket.
The NFL and DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) are currently being sued by bar owners, casinos and other businesses that show NFL games to customers. The complaint contends that Sunday Ticket should not be offered to DirecTV exclusively and should be opened to other pay-TV operators to increase competition and lower the price. The plaintiffs say the package currently violates two sections of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
In August 2014, DirecTV signed an exclusive, multi-year $12 billion deal with the NFL to re-up the Sunday Ticket package. The deal, which runs through 2022, increases DirecTV's licensing fees from $1 billion a season to $1.4 billion. Depending on their size, businesses pay between $2,314 and $120,000 a season to purchase Sunday Ticket access, the suit says.
http://www.fiercecable.com/story/nba...low/2015-07-23