No more “out of market” games?

The fans argue that the MLB and NHL have agreed to divide the live-game video presentation market into exclusive territories and protect these territories through anticompetitive blackouts. They further allege that these agreements are not necessary to produce professional contests, and that the agreements directly reduce competition in the live-game presentation market. The Complaint states that consumers can only watch video presentations of other teams through two exclusive “out of market” packages – those two packages being “MLB.TV” and “MLB EXTRA INNINGS” for baseball. The problem is that for both of these packages, the “in-market” game is blacked out in order to protect the local television partner. Therefore, the fan must subscribe to a cable package that includes the in-market game in order to watch his in-market team, regardless of the fact that he may have purchased the above-mentioned TV packages.

Antitrust restraints are necessary in certain situations in order to create/maintain a level of competitive balance within a league. However, those restraints must be reasonably necessary to maintain such a level. The Plaintiffs allege that these restraints are not reasonably necessary and that there exists “obvious well-recognized less restrictive alternatives.”