UFC in hot water after streaming app crashed for PPV

[Eff Pandas]

It depends on where Floyd gets his cut from does he get his cut from revenue or profit?

Good point.

Normally it is profit but consider the situation Floyd didn't have to let UFC stream at all so he could be pulling from revenue. If he is pulling from revenue it is on them to pay out, then do whatever with their cut. Then they have a lawsuit either way, unless they come out of pocket which they obviously don't want to do. In that case Floyd's lawsuit would be stronger because he has contracts that will be pretty clear on the matter.

Honestly I'd be shocked if they didn't have some contractual agreement to deal with a refund situation cuz this isn't some shocking completely unheard of problem for either side. So I'd doubt this would even come to a lawsuit between Floyd & the UFC. Its a known issue that surely would've been discussed if not have a built in agreement for any multiple PPV option situation.

[BWC]

Lol UFC cant catch a break this year. Everything is just going to hell over at UFC HQ. They have one good event (214) and Jones gets busted for roids two weeks later..

[Johnny2x2x]

White and the UFC regularly lie about PPV buys, they simply didn't have the infrastructure to support this many viewers. Doubt they have had an event do more than 1 million buys before.

[littlemac]

FOOK the UFC lol...outside of UFC nobody gives a damn about MMA...Floyd would beat him in the Octagon too. Ray Mercer, Heather Hardy and Holly Holm all KNOCKED out ufc CONTENDER in their FIRST fight

[THEFRESHBRAWLER]

3 Boxers have gone into MMA and won by knockout in their first fight. No MMA fighters will ever come into boxing and knockout a boxer let alone win. Ray Mercer was 50 years old and KTFO of Tim Sylvia on 6days notice. Boxing>MMA

[Eff Pandas]

That guy don't know sh^t. The only guy who won a fight vs a UFC fighter in their first fight is Ray Mercer who not only KO'd a former UFC fighter in his first fight he KO'd a former UFC champion in his first fight.

Hardy isn't even in the UFC & she beat a chick in Bellator who was 4-5 & 0-1 in Bellator.

Holm fought a minor MMA league chick who had a very respectable 4-1 record in her first MMA fight.

[bigdunny1]

Yea I can see the advantage to wait a tick not paying out right away while they get their ducks in a row but not refunding or offering fans something of equal or greater value (should probably be greater like 2 free PPV or a year of fight pass for free) in return is something that will hurt the brand for the better part of a decade.

It will be interesting to see what statement they release on monday. Dana white getting roasted on twitter calling him a crook, thief, screaming about lawsuits and now lawyers out there fishing collect folks info for a class action lawsuit as we speak. I'm sure dana is speaking with his legal team and UFC owners trying to decide next steps to address this fire. I just don't think giving folks credit for future UFC PPVs will cut it. Fans will be grabbing pitch forks and storming the castle if they do that.

[bigdunny1]

Dana White and the UFC havent tweeted since all this went. And haven't publically responded. Shameful.

[bigdunny1]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/showtime-hit-class-action-lawsuit-failed-mayweather-mcgregor-streams-1033373

Showtime Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failed Mayweather-McGregor Streams

August 28, 2017 11:02am PT
by Ashley Cullins

Grainy video, errors and buffering streams weren't what fans paid $99 to see, according to the lawsuit.

Before the sweat was dry in the ring following Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s defeat of UFC champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, Showtime had another major fight on its hands — a class-action lawsuit from customers unhappy because of streaming issues that plagued the fight and the lead-up bouts.

Portland boxing fan Zack Bartel paid to stream the fight in high-definition through the Showtime app, but says all he saw was "grainy video, error screens, buffer events, and stalls."

Bartel is suing Showtime for unlawful trade practices and unjust enrichment, alleging the network rushed its pay-per-view streaming service to the market without securing the bandwidth necessary to support the scores of cable-cutting fans.

"Instead of being upfront with consumers about its new, untested, underpowered service, defendant caused likelihood of confusion and misunderstanding as to the source and quality of the HD video consumers would see on fight night," writes attorney Michael Fuller in the complaint filed late Saturday in Oregon federal court. "Defendant intentionally misrepresented the quality and grade of video consumers would see using its app, and knowingly failed to disclose that its system was defective with respect to the amount of bandwidth available, and that defendant’s service would materially fail to conform to the quality of HD video defendant promised."

The complaint, which is largely composed of screenshots and tweets, is seeking for each member of the class actual damages or $200 in statutory damages, whichever is greater.

The proposed class includes Oregon consumers who viewed Showtime's app advertisement on iTunes and paid $99.99 to stream the fight, but were unable to view the fight live on the app "in HD at 1080p resolution and at 60 frames per second, and who experienced ongoing grainy video, error screens, buffer events, and stalls instead."

Showtime has not yet responded to a request for comment on the complaint, which is posted below.

On Monday, Pay-Per-View Live Events Inc. sent The Hollywood Reporter an email that directs dissatisfied customers to contact their service provider for a refund.

"Unfortunately, we are receiving a huge number of complaints from a large number of customers who are not using our services but a different provider (UFC)," says the message. "We can only express that we understand your pain for not being able to see the special event but again we are not the company that provided the stream or actual event. You will need to contact the actual provider such as Xfinity, Showtime, HBO, UFC.tv etc. to request your refund."

The plaintiffs are also represented by powerhouse firm Geragos & Geragos.

[USMCer]

So tons of fans are jumping on the "streaming PPV" model...

Does this mean the end of traditional PPV providers, eventually?