Mayweather vs. McGregor PPV and live-streaming problems lead to class-action lawsuit

Showtime is the target of a class action lawsuit from customers angry over streaming issues with the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor pay-per-view bout on Aug. 26, according to Hollywood Reporter. The fight was available via standard broadcast pay-per-view and live streaming pay-per-view through Showtime or the UFC in the United States.

But there were various issues, from a large cable pay-per-view outage to diminished quality in the promised high-definition stream. The main event was even delayed by Showtime, though it seemed like many of the issues people were having managed to clear up around the time that the co-featured bout was coming to an end.

Zack Bartel of Portland alleges that Showtime brought its online streaming service to the market and sold the fight’s live stream despite knowing that they did not possess bandwidth to meet the demand of the year’s biggest match, according to the report. Showtime is being sued for “unlawful trade practices and unjust enrichment.”

The documents allege that Showtime “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.”

The class action includes Oregon consumers who paid to stream the fight expecting a high-definition-quality stream — specifically one that ran at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second — and received a diminished viewing experience. It asks for actual damages for each member in the glass, or $200 in statutory damages, whichever is greater.

Whether or not this lawsuit goes anywhere is a mystery, but it is true that Showtime and anybody involved with the promotion and distribution of the match should have anticipated astronomically high numbers. Mayweather and McGregor went into the bout as two of the biggest stars in the world and indisputably the two biggest in all of combat sports.