Optimum’s Blackout Betrayal: Tri-State Attorneys General Stand up for Fans
Tri-state sports fans gained three new champions this week when NY Attorney General Letitia James, along with CT Attorney General William Tong and NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin demanded that Altice USA's Optimum cable service issue automatic refunds to customers deprived of MSG Networks due to an ongoing blackout. For the last several weeks, SFC has also called for refunds to sports fans.
Fans Fight Back: Over 2,000 Speak Out Against Optimum’s MSG Blackout
Sports fans are fed up—and they’re making their voices heard. More than 2,000 fans have mobilized, sending more than 14,000 emails to lawmakers demanding an end to the outrageous blackout that has kept Knicks and Rangers games off their screens.
Optimum’s Blackout Betrayal: How Consumers are Paying the Price for Altice USA’s MSG Blackout
On January 1, 2025, the carriage agreement between MSG Networks and Altice expired, leaving more than 1 million households across the tri-state area without access to the important local sports they pay for as part of their Optimum cable subscription. That sports programming includes exclusive live coverage of major league sports teams like the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils.
Optimum’s Blackout Betrayal: Sports Fans Deserve Better
Once again, sports fans are being used as pawns in a nearly-month long corporate standoff, and this time, Optimum and its parent company Altice are the culprits. While MSG Networks has made it clear that they are willing to keep the channels live during negotiations, Optimum has chosen to pull the plug—leaving die-hard sports fans in the dark.
This isn’t about fair negotiations. This is about Optimum using sports fans as leverage while they wrangle over dollars and cents. And that’s unacceptable.
SFC Files Amicus Brief in NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation
SFC filed an amicus brief in the ongoing NFL Sunday Ticket antitrust litigation, arguing that the league abuses its antitrust exemption, causing harm to fans nationwide and that the overturning of the multi-billion dollar verdict is wrong. We are outraged that, once again, the NFL may get away with restricting access and charging higher prices, and that fans are left holding the bag, even after the judge affirmed the jury’s verdict that the NFL violated antitrust laws. We can not let the NFL get away with it again!
Fubo throws in the towel despite having the upper hand
In August, Fubo delivered a stunning upset against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery – getting a preliminary injunction granted against the wildly anticompetitive Venu Sports. Now they’ve abandoned the cause altogether, opting to be acquired by Disney instead.
DOJ and 16 State Attorneys General join SFC in Supporting injunction against Venu Sports
Possibly the most significant antitrust case working its way through the courts right now is Fubo v. Disney et. al. In August, we, along with the America Economic Liberties Project, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Open Markets Institute, and Public Knowledge, filed an amicus brief supporting Fubo in its lawsuit against Disney and the Venu Sports joint venture partners. After Judge Garnett granted Fubo a preliminary injunction against the venture, the Venu Sports partners appealed. We filed another amicus brief, but with even more partners, adding the American Antitrust Institute, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the National Consumers League.
Well, the team just keeps getting bigger! Now, the DOJ and 16 state Attorneys General have filed briefs.
Three more groups join SFC against the anticompetitive Venu Sports
For years, cable companies have forced customers to buy “fat” bundles — large packages of channels with inflated price tags, often including unwanted content. Sports fans in particular have been vocal about their desire for more control over which games and leagues they pay to watch. In our new amicus brief, we argue that consumers, especially sports fans, are tired of paying for bundles that force them into unwanted content just to access the sports they love.