Getty Images
The fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor may be over – but now Showtime might have a whole new fight on its hands, in the legal arena.
Showtime Networks was hit with a class-action lawsuit on Saturday by an Oregon man who says he shelled out nearly $100 to live-stream the fight, only to have the stream fail.
“Plaintiff Zack Bartel is an individual consumer residing in Portland, Oregon. Like thousands of other fight fans across the country, plaintiff paid defendant $99.99 to stream the Mayweather fight live on its app in HD, as defendant’s advertisement promised,” the suit reads. “On August 25, 2017, in response to defendant’s advertisement and representation that its system would stream the Mayweather fight at 1080p resolution and at 60 frames per second, plaintiff paid defendant $99.99.”
Also Read: Steve Harvey Jabbed by Jokes Over Mayweather-McGregor Appearance
However, rather than an HD stream of the fight, the suit contends, Bartel found his plans for the night KO’ed by technical difficulties.
“On August 26, 2017 at 6pm PST, like thousands of other fight fans across the county, plaintiff turned on defendant’s app in anticipation to watch the Mayweather fight. To his extreme disappointment and frustration, plaintiff (and thousands of other consumers) quickly learned that defendant’s system was defective and unable to stream the Mayweather fight in HD as defendant had advertised. Instead of being a ‘witness to history’ as defendant had promised, the only thing plaintiff witnessed was grainy video, error screens, buffer events, and stalls,” the suit reads.
Bartel was far from the only person to be disappointed by the service, the suit contends.
Also Read: Mayweather-McGregor: Twitter Crowns Illegal Live-Streamers the Real Champs
“When plaintiff turned to Twitter, he saw hundreds of complaints being tweeted by defendant’s other app customers in real time during the Mayweather fight experiencing the same issue with defendant’s defective service.”
The suit alleges that Showtime “rushed” the service out without adequate bandwidth, in order to maximize profits.
“In hopes of maximizing profits, defendant rushed its pay-perview streaming service to market, without securing enough networking bandwidth to support the number of subscribers who paid to watch the fight,” the suit reads.
Also Read: Floyd Mayweather Jr Beats Conor McGregor in Surprisingly Close Fight
A spokesperson for Showtime told TheWrap that refunds are being offered at the point of sale, and that Showtime will issue full refunds for customers who purchased directly from Showtime and who were unable to watch the fight.
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
Vegas Party Report in Pictures: What Hollywood Does in Sin City Doesn't Stay in Sin City (Updating Photos)
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Chase Stevens / Kabik Photo Group
-
Erik Kabik / Kabik Photo Group
-
Erik Kabik / Kabik Photo Group
-
Erik Kabik / Kabik Photo Group
-
Erik Kabik / Kabik Photo Group
-
EBC Photographer
-
EBC Photographer
-
Patrick Gray / Kabik Photo Group
-
Patrick Gray / Kabik Photo Group
-
Al Powers/Powers Imagery
-
Al Powers/Powers Imagery
-
Al Powers/Powers Imagery
-
David Becker/Getty Images
-
David Becker/Getty Images
-
David Becker/Getty Images
-
Surrender
-
Joe Fury
-
Suzanne Theresa for PBC
-
Suzanne Theresa for PBC
-
Suzanne Theresa for PBC
-
High Roller Las Vegas
-
Getty Images
-
Caesars Palace/Rivet Motorcycles
-
Caesars Palace/Rivet Motorcycles
-
Kirvin Doak
-
Patrick Gray/Kabik Photo Group
-
Patrick Gray/Kabik Photo Group
-
EBC
