Comcast filed suit on Thursday against DirecTV in federal court in Illinois accusing the giant satellite operator of falsely advertising that its popular NFL Sunday Ticket service is available free this season.
Sunday Ticket provides subscribers with all out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons.
“As none of the ads disclose,” the lawsuit said, “the offer is not for free NFL Sunday Ticket service — the offer requires a two-year contract with hefty termination for early cancellation with the NFL Sunday Ticket service automatically renewing in the second year at full price.”
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, said that DirecTV’s radio advertising omits mentioning the actual costs, while its television and Internet ads “employ a carefully crafted scheme of purported disclaimers that were intentionally designed to deceive as many consumers as possible.”
Comcast also accused DirecTV of “falsely disparaging cable television service generally — and by clear implication, Comcast’s cable services specifically.” It called DirecTV a “serial offender” in false advertising.
In a statement, DirecTV said: “We think it’s deplorable that Comcast is trying to compete in the courtroom rather than in the marketplace. New customers who sign up for DirecTV can indeed get NFL Sunday Ticket at no extra charge for one year and there is no requirement to subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket the following year. The last thing we want to do is mislead new customers.”
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