Motion to Compel Arbitration Granted in Part, Denied in Part in Antitrust Case v. Cable Providers and Sports Organizations

On November 25, 2013, Judge Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York issued an opinion in Laumann v. National Hockey League, granting in part and denying in part a motion to compel arbitration brought by defendant Comcast and denying in full a similar motion brought by defendant DIRECTV.  Plaintiffs claim that defendants, including the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball, along with the major cable and satellite television service providers entered into "agreements to eliminate competition in the distribution of [baseball and hockey] games over the Internet and television [by] divid[ing] the live-game video presentation market into exclusive territories, which are protected by anticompetitive blackouts," and by "collud[ing] to sell the `out-of-market' packages only through the League [which] exploit[s] [its] illegal monopoly by charging supra-competitive prices."  These agreements allegedly violate the Sherman Antiturst Act.

At the heart of plaintiffs' beef, it seems, is that if one wants to view "out-of-market" games -- that is, games that do not feature the team from one's home city or the city where one is located -- one must purchase television packages which inculde all out-of-market games, even if one is only interested in the games of one out-of-market team.

Both Comcast and DIRECTV have customer service agreements that feature arbitration clauses and so both defedants moved to compel arbitration.  Judge Scheindlin granted Comcast's motion with respect to one plaintiff who purchased an out-of-market package directly from Comcast and thus was clearly bound by the arbitration provision.  The remaining plaintiffs had a more complicated relationship to Comcast and claimed that their claims did not arise directly under their customer service agreements with Comcast.

Judge Scheindlin first ruled that any colorable dispute about the scope or validity of the arbitration clause must be referred to the arbitrator.  Plaintiffs colorfully objected that where the relationship between the agreements and the claims are too attenuated, granting Comcast's motion would be like compelling arbitration of a claim by a plaintiff who had been hit by a Comcast bus.  Judge Scheindlin agreed with respect to one plaintiff, where "the sole nexus between his claims and his Comcast service is the allegation that his DIRECTV package contained material produced by the Comcast" Regional Sports Networks.

Comcast also sought to compel arbitration of claims brought against it pursuant to arbitration clauses in plaintiffs' agreements with DIRECTV.  With respect to these claims, Judge Scheindlin noted that there was no clear intent to have questions of arbitrability between a signatory and a non-signatory decided by the arbitrator.  She then ruled that the arbitration clause in the DIRECTV agreements did not encompass plaintiffs' claims against Comcast.  She also rejected Comcast's claim that plaintiffs should be estopped from bringing a claim under the DIRECTV agreements through any mechanism other than arbitration.

DIRECTV's motion to compel arbitration against another plaintiff failed because the plaintiff is not a DIRECTV customer bound by its arbitration agreement.  The DIRECTV subscription is in the name of plaintiff's wife, and the court rejected any claim that he could be bound by admission or estoppel.

[JT]