Sports fans can pursue U.S. antitrust case over programs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday allowed sports fans to pursue a lawsuit accusing Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and various networks of antitrust violations in how they package games for broadcast on television or the Internet.
U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan said the subscribers could pursue claims that the packaging has reduced competition, raised prices, and kept them from watching their favorite teams located outside their home markets.
"Plaintiffs in this case - the consumers - have plausibly alleged that they are the direct victims of this harm," she wrote.
The defendants include Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, several teams in both sports, cable TV company Comcast Corp, satellite TV provider DirecTV, Madison Square Garden Co and some regional sports networks.
DirecTV declined to comment, saying it had not reviewed the decision. Comcast and the NHL had no immediate comment. Other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ned Diver, a lawyer for the subscribers, said in a phone interview: "We're very pleased with the decision. It's a total victory on the substance of the plaintiffs' claims."
Media companies, leagues and teams can often justify higher costs to watch their products by citing the higher costs of doing business, and that individual teams have rabid followings among viewers willing to pay more to watch events live.
"BLACKOUT" AGREEMENTS
The case arose from what the subscribers said were anticompetitive "blackout" agreements between service providers such as Comcast and DirecTV, sports networks and the leagues.
These subscribers contended that if they wanted to watch games from outside their home markets, they were required to buy packages that included all out-of-market games, even if they were interested only in one or a few nonlocal teams.
For example, a New York Yankees fan living in Colorado could not pay simply for access to that team's games, but had to buy a product such as the MLB Extra Innings television package.
The subscribers sought damages and a halt to arrangements that they said resulted in "reduced output, diminished product quality, diminished choice and suppressed price competition."
Other packages at issue are NHL Center Ice for television, and MLB.tv and NHL GameCenter LIVE for the Internet.
The defendants argued that the subscribers' alleged injuries were only indirectly related to the alleged wrongful conduct, and that Major League Baseball and NHL games did not qualify as "distinct products" subject to antitrust scrutiny.
Comcast, DirecTV and the sports networks also contended that their conduct was "presumptively legal."
PRESSURE TO SETTLE
Scheindlin nonetheless let much of the case go forward.
"Making all games available as part of a package, while it may increase output overall, does not, as a matter of law, eliminate the harm to competition wrought by preventing the individual teams from competing to sell their games outside their home territories in the first place," she wrote.
The judge did dismiss claims that Comcast, DirecTV and the sports networks conspired to monopolize markets, while allowing similar claims against Major League Baseball and the NHL to proceed. She also dismissed some individual plaintiffs from the case, saying they lacked standing to sue.
"There will be pressure on the defendants to settle before this gets to trial," which could cost "real money," said Geoffrey Rapp, a University of Toledo law professor in Ohio.
"The defendants are in some ways similar to record companies that had to adapt as a la carte options became available online, where people could buy one song rather than a whole album," he said. "Five or 10 years from now, these package-deal arrangements may no longer exist."
Among the dozens of defendants were the Yankees and its YES network; the Chicago White Sox baseball and Chicago Blackhawks hockey teams; the New York Rangers hockey team; and various Comcast SportsNet and Root Sports networks.
Last month, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said it would buy a 49 percent stake in the YES network.
Baseball itself has had an antitrust exemption since 1922, but has long faced periodic calls from Congress and elsewhere that it be repealed.
The cases are Laumann et al v. National Hockey League et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-01817; and Garber et al v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball et al in the same court, No. 12-03074.

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Rule changes may be best way to curb hockey aggression

(Reuters) - Trying to prevent fights and hockey injuries by teaching young hockey players about the dangers of aggression on the ice are less effective than rule changes, which adjust both culture and behavior at once, according to a Canadian study.
The researchers, whose findings appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, concluded after reviewing past research on the subject that rules designed to curb aggression among hockey players - especially slamming into another player, known as body checking - are linked with fewer injuries.
"It's pretty clear from what we know right now that if we institute rule changes that automatically tell people within that sport what's acceptable and what's not... that we can reduce injuries three- to 12-fold by doing that," said Michael Cusimano, lead author of the study and a professor and neurosurgeon at the University of Toronto.
Hockey is notorious for its fighting and physical contact, and rates of reported concussions and spinal injuries have been rising among hockey players over more than a decade, Cusimano and his colleagues point out.
In many leagues, body checking is legal but often has some limits, such as prohibitions against hitting a player from behind or in the head. Some, but not all, studies have shown that body checking is linked with a higher chance of being hurt.
To get a sense of what the research has found to be the most effective ways of curbing aggression in youth hockey, Cusimano and his colleagues collected the results of 18 studies.
Among them, 13 studied the effect of league rules to limit aggression, while three studies focused on education and two looked at the effect of behavioral therapy on managing aggression.
The educational and therapy studies found that interventions resulted in fewer penalties, but couldn't say whether this had any impact on the rate of injuries.
In seven of the nine studies that compared injury rates between leagues that allowed body checking and those that didn't, players were less likely to get hurt if body checking was outlawed.
One study, for example, found a 12-fold difference in injuries between Pee Wee players in leagues that allowed body checking and those that didn't.
Cusimano said there need to be rules against aggression to keep young players safe, and they need to be enforced.
Alison Macpherson, an injury prevention researcher at York University in Toronto, who was not involved in the study, said others could argue that body checking is part of the game.
"There's a school of thought that if you reduce the age at which players start body checking, they will have learned how to do it before they're strong enough to cause damage," she said, but noted that studies have not backed that up.
Some leagues have begun to tighten their rules against body checking. Last year, USA-Hockey, which governs amateur ice hockey in the United States, moved up the age at which players can begin to use body checking from 11 to 13.
Macpherson said that in general hockey is a safe game that has made improvements in player safety.
"But they do play on a hard ice surface, so the potential for injury is always there. So I think we need to maintain the fun, maintain the sport, but keep it as safe as possible," she told Reuters Health. SOURCE: http://tinyrul.com/buqvd3I

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Owners and players to meet without feuding leaders present

NEW YORK (Reuters) - National Hockey League (NHL) owners and players will meet face-to-face on Tuesday in an attempt to broker a deal to end their bitter dispute that threatens to wipe out the season.
The meeting will take place in New York with the heads of the two feuding sides, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association (NHLPA) Executive Director Don Fehr both agreeing to skip the meeting.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement on Sunday that at least six team owners would attend the meeting.
"We have confirmed with the union that we will attempt to schedule a players/owners-only meeting for some time on Tuesday afternoon in New York," Daly said.
"We expect the following NHL owners to attend: Ron Burkle (Pittsburgh Penguins), Mark Chipman (Winnipeg Jets), Murray Edwards (Calgary Flames), Jeremy Jacobs (Boston Bruins), Larry Tanenbaum (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Jeff Vinik (Tampa Bay Lightning)."
Bettman and Fehr agreed to stand aside and miss the meeting after previous attempts to reach a deal failed, raising fears the season could be lost.
Hundreds of games have already been canceled and just last week, a meeting with federal mediators broke up after two days of unsuccessful sessions.
"Neither the commissioner nor I will be present, although each side will have a limited number of staff or counsel present," Fehr said in a statement.
"There will be owners attending this meeting who have not previously done so, which is encouraging and which we welcome.
"We hope that this meeting will be constructive and lead to a dialogue that will help us find a way to reach an agreement."

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Valencia, Malaga through to King's Cup quarters

* Valencia see off La Liga rivals Osasuna
* Malaga suffer scare against third-tier Eibar (Adds Valencia-Osasuna, quotes, byline)
MADRID, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Valencia eased past La Liga rivals Osasuna into the quarter-finals of the King's Cup on Tuesday, while Malaga flirted with danger against third-tier Eibar before a flurry of late goals put them safely into the last eight.
Valencia will play 2011 winners Real Madrid or Celta Vigo for a place in the semi-finals, with Celta holding a 2-1 advantage from last month's last 16, first leg ahead of their visit to the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Malaga are facing a probable last-eight clash with holders Barcelona, who host Cordoba on Thursday having won their first leg 2-0 at the second-division Andalusian club.
Valencia went into their second leg against Pamplona-based Osasuna with a 2-0 lead and were cruising at a half-empty Mestalla when Tino Costa smashed in a free kick to open the scoring in the 34th minute.
However, Joseba Llorente pulled a goal back with a powerful low drive three minutes later and both sides squandered a number of chances before substitute Roberto Soldado struck with the last kick of the game for a 2-1 victory that sent Valencia through 4-1 on aggregate.
In the earlier kickoff at Malaga's Rosaleda stadium, Argentine midfielder Diego Buonanotte saved the Andalusian club from potential humiliation when he scored twice and created another in a 4-1 comeback win against lowly Eibar.
Lying second in their regional section of the Segunda B division and never having played in the top flight, Eibar knocked out 2012 finalists Athletic Bilbao in the previous round and held Malaga to a 1-1 draw at their tiny Ipurua stadium in the Basque Country in the first leg.
They took a surprise lead in the 12th minute of the return game when Ruben Arroyo was quickest to the rebound from a long-range Mikel Arruabarrena effort and goalkeeper Carlos Kameni could only deflect his weak shot into the net.
With Malaga fielding a weakened side, Eibar held on relatively comfortably until the 74th minute when Buonanotte exchanged passes with Javier Saviola and struck the ball high past Eibar keeper Xabi Iruretagoiena.
Two minutes later, Buonanotte set up Seba Fernandez to make it 2-1 on the night and substitute Francisco Portillo glanced a header into the net from a Nacho Monreal centre in the 82nd minute as the visitors' defences crumbled.
Their misery was complete when Guillermo Roldan was shown a straight red card four minutes from time and Buonanotte scored his second in added time to make it 5-2 on aggregate and set up a quarter-final meeting with holders Barcelona or Cordoba.
MATURITY, PATIENCE
"Nobody thought it was going to be easy," Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini told a news conference.
"They are a team with a lot of confidence and they are having a great season," the Chilean added.
"Above all in the final 20 minutes we made the most of the space to win the game. It was tough but there was a maturity and patience there to achieve the result."
Sevilla are virtually assured of a place in the last eight after they won their first leg at Real Mallorca 5-0 and host the Balearic Islanders on Wednesday before Real Zaragoza seek to maintain a 1-0 advantage at home to Levante.

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Brazilian prostitutes keen to "learn the lingo" for 2014 World Cup

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Prostitutes in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte are signing up in droves for free language classes in order to be ready for a barrage of foreign visitors to the tropical country during the 2014 soccer World Cup.
The women join many others in Brazilian society, from politicians to construction workers, who are racing the clock to prepare 12 host cities throughout the nation for the international soccer championship.
"When all this chatter about being ready for the World Cup started last year, we decided the women needed to be prepared for it too," Cida Vieira, president of the Minas Gerais state Association of Prostitutes, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The group has solicited volunteers to teach English, Spanish and even Portuguese, she said, explaining that some of the city's sex workers are immigrants who needed to learn Brazil's primary language.
Vieira said demand for the classes could surpass the 300 women who originally expressed interest, with calls coming in from as far away as Sao Paulo, about 509 km (316 miles) from Belo Horizonte.
"This is important for the dignity of the work, the women need to be able to negotiate a fair price and defend themselves," she said.

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Soccer-Youthful Villa playing dangerous game

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Pioneers Aston Villa have put almost all their faith in young players this season but the bold policy is at risk of badly backfiring for the Premier League club after Tuesday's defeat at fourth tier Bradford City.
The 3-1 reverse in their Capital One (League) Cup semi-final first leg was the latest in a string of woeful displays from the 1982 European champions and damage has been done even if they salvage a trip to Wembley in the Jan. 22 second leg at home.
Manager Paul Lambert still believes they will get there and a cup final would be a big fillip for the Premier League strugglers and perhaps show their ideas are not folly after all.
"It is halftime, we have another chance to retrieve this and we will see what happens in a fortnight's time. We will be at home, have the crowd behind us, and we will have to do better than we did tonight, that is for sure," he told reporters.
Asked if Villa were favourites, he added: "Pretty sure we will be, being at home with the crowd behind us but it is a big game for us now."
Casual English football observers might have known as many of the Bradford players as Villa ones such is the Birmingham-based side's obsession with blooding youngsters but more painful results in the coming weeks could seriously spook them.
Villa had conceded 17 goals in their last four league games before the nervy 2-1 FA Cup third round win over second tier Ipswich Town on Saturday with a young backline and midfield being run ragged and looking very much their inexperienced age.
ESTABLISHED NAME
Many in the game have applauded Villa's approach in a time of mega money wages and transfers but fans will have expected something different when American Randy Lerner, former owner of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, took over the club in 2006.
The harsh realities of top-flight football mean money and experience count, especially for clubs not enjoying an excitable first season in the Premier League when average players often excel.
Villa are an established name and their perilous position in 16th in the Premier League, a point above the relegation zone, is sending shudders down their faithfuls' spines with the prospect of a humiliating cup exit also a real possibility.
"We have a great chance now and Villa will have to play exceptionally well to get to Wembley," said Bradford boss Phil Parkinson, not sounding at all like a kowtowing fourth tier manager who is happy his plucky side have got this far.
"We go there full of confidence and the pressure will be on them."
Villa flirted with relegation last season and then sacked manager Alex McLeish, who had started the policy of fielding players in their teens and early 20s, so they know the risks they are taking.
The rays of light for fans are the shock 3-1 league win at Liverpool last month and the power and pace of seven-million pound ($11 million) Belgium forward Christian Benteke, one of the few Villa players to have cost a sizeable amount of money.
Whether more funds are available in the January transfer window remains to be seen, as does the future of England striker Darren Bent after previously being mysteriously banished to the sidelines despite not being injured.
British television pundit Alan Hansen famously said in 1995 that "you can't win anything with kids" when a Manchester United team including young unknowns such as David Beckham and Gary Neville lost - ironically - at Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League season.
United went on to win a league and cup double that season.

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Tennis-Murray knows must do more to become 'Sir Andy'

BRISBANE, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Andy Murray is coming off a season in which he became the first British man in 76 years to win a Grand Slam singles title and won Olympic gold at the London Games but the Scot does not think he has done enough to deserve a knighthood yet.
The 25-year-old received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in a special U.K. New year Honours list, though some of his supporters thought his victories at the US Open and Olympics warranted a higher honour.
Bradley Wiggins, the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France, and Ben Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic yachtsman, received knighthoods but Murray said he would have to accomplish much more before he could perhaps one day join them.
"You need to do a lot, for a long time, to deserve an honour like that," Murray told a news conference at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.
"A lot of the sportsmen and women have been given that just because their sport isn't necessarily in the spotlight all the time, it's easy to forget what they've done for 10, 15 years.
"I mean, some of them have won 10 gold medals in world championships, four or five Olympic medals, and have been doing it for years.
"I've only been doing it for a couple years, so I think I'll definitely need to win a few more matches and have more tournaments to have a chance of getting that."
Sir Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson were in Murray's corner as spectators during the US Open but he said he only referred to them as Sean and Alex.
"I think with the people around you, I think everyone just kind of stays the same, and then it would be people that you don't know that will come up to you and address you as that," Murray said.
"But I would hope I wouldn't want my friends and family to call me that."
BETTER PREPARED
Murray's win over Novak Djokovic at the US Open in September has finally freed him of the questions about when he would make his grand slam breakthrough.
The world No. 3 said winning Olympic gold and his first major in the same year had had its perks but with a coach like Ivan Lendl to guide him he was never likely to get carried away by the success.
"The few weeks afterwards around the Olympics time and the US Open, I got a few upgrades on flights and things like that, which is nice, but that's died down a little bit over the last few months," he said.
"Life hasn't changed too much. Obviously the few weeks afterwards were very busy. Then once you start travelling and playing tournaments again, and get back into the routine of training and practicing, it hasn't really changed that much, to be honest, which has been nice.
"Also having someone like Ivan around me as well, he went through a similar sort of thing so that's obviously helped as well. He's given me some advice on how to deal with certain things that come with winning big events.
"I've had a lot of congratulations because I think a lot of people that follow tennis, and were sort of general sports fans, kind of knew my story a little bit.
"Of how long it had been since any British player had won a slam and how many times I had lost in the finals. Especially after Wimbledon, when I was very upset this year.
"It was very nice for me to finally be able to move on and not worry about that stuff anymore. I got a lot of congratulations for that."
Having shed the nearly-man tag, Murray said he would be better prepared than ever in his bid to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon.
Murray endured heartbreak in the 2012 Wimbledon final when he was beaten Roger Federer.
"There will be a lot of pressure again, but I don't think there will be more pressure than what I went through last year, to be honest," he said.
"I mean, that was a tough tournament for me. It was quite stressful. The Olympics was the same. The US Open - that was a tough, tough three months mentally for me.
"I think whatever happens at Wimbledon this year, I'll be able to deal with it better than I have done in the past."

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Murray knows must do more to become 'Sir Andy'

BRISBANE (Reuters) - Andy Murray is coming off a season in which he became the first British man in 76 years to win a Grand Slam singles title and won Olympic gold at the London Games but the Scot does not think he has done enough to deserve a knighthood yet.
The 25-year-old received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in a special U.K. New year Honours list, though some of his supporters thought his victories at the US Open and Olympics warranted a higher honour.
Bradley Wiggins, the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France, and Ben Ainslie, the most decorated Olympic yachtsman, received knighthoods but Murray said he would have to accomplish much more before he could perhaps one day join them.
"You need to do a lot, for a long time, to deserve an honour like that," Murray told a news conference at the Brisbane International on Tuesday.
"A lot of the sportsmen and women have been given that just because their sport isn't necessarily in the spotlight all the time, it's easy to forget what they've done for 10, 15 years.
"I mean, some of them have won 10 gold medals in world championships, four or five Olympic medals, and have been doing it for years.
"I've only been doing it for a couple years, so I think I'll definitely need to win a few more matches and have more tournaments to have a chance of getting that."
Sir Sean Connery and Sir Alex Ferguson were in Murray's corner as spectators during the US Open but he said he only referred to them as Sean and Alex.
"I think with the people around you, I think everyone just kind of stays the same, and then it would be people that you don't know that will come up to you and address you as that," Murray said.
"But I would hope I wouldn't want my friends and family to call me that."
BETTER PREPARED
Murray's win over Novak Djokovic at the US Open in September has finally freed him of the questions about when he would make his grand slam breakthrough.
The world No. 3 said winning Olympic gold and his first major in the same year had had its perks but with a coach like Ivan Lendl to guide him he was never likely to get carried away by the success.
"The few weeks afterwards around the Olympics time and the US Open, I got a few upgrades on flights and things like that, which is nice, but that's died down a little bit over the last few months," he said.
"Life hasn't changed too much. Obviously the few weeks afterwards were very busy. Then once you start travelling and playing tournaments again, and get back into the routine of training and practicing, it hasn't really changed that much, to be honest, which has been nice.
"Also having someone like Ivan around me as well, he went through a similar sort of thing so that's obviously helped as well. He's given me some advice on how to deal with certain things that come with winning big events.
"I've had a lot of congratulations because I think a lot of people that follow tennis, and were sort of general sports fans, kind of knew my story a little bit.
"Of how long it had been since any British player had won a slam and how many times I had lost in the finals. Especially after Wimbledon, when I was very upset this year.
"It was very nice for me to finally be able to move on and not worry about that stuff anymore. I got a lot of congratulations for that."
Having shed the nearly-man tag, Murray said he would be better prepared than ever in his bid to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon.
Murray endured heartbreak in the 2012 Wimbledon final when he was beaten Roger Federer.
"There will be a lot of pressure again, but I don't think there will be more pressure than what I went through last year, to be honest," he said.
"I mean, that was a tough tournament for me. It was quite stressful. The Olympics was the same. The US Open - that was a tough, tough three months mentally for me.
"I think whatever happens at Wimbledon this year, I'll be able to deal with it better than I have done in the past."
Murray is taking part in the Brisbane International tournament as part of his preparations for the Australian Open, which begins on January 14.

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