Philly-area bars are facing lawsuits over unauthorized live streaming of boxing match
G & G Closed Circuit Events filed 10 lawsuits against New Jersey and Pennsylvania businesses for hosting unauthorized watch parties of the 2023 Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford fight.
The July 2023 championship boxing match between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford generated more than $55 million in pay-per-view revenue.
But according to a series of new lawsuits, the company that had the exclusive rights to livestream the event in bars, lounges, and restaurants did not get its full share because some establishments, including in the Philadelphia area, hosted unauthorized viewing parties.
G&G Closed Circuit Events, a Nevada-based company, filed 10 federal lawsuits this month in New Jersey and Pennsylvania against businesses it claims engaged in “unlawful interception, receipt and publication” of the Spence-Crawford fight on July 29, 2023. The local filings join numerous other lawsuits across the country filed by G&G over events streaming the fight.
Among those hit with lawsuits are Dubai Nightclub and Camden Arts Yard in Camden, and Lai Lounge in Old City.
G&G is a “leader in providing boxing, MMA and other content to commercial establishments such as bars, restaurants, nightclubs and casinos‚" according to the company’s website.
To host a public viewing of the fight, the suits say, establishments were required to get contractual authorization from G&G, which had the exclusive distribution rights in North America for the Spence-Crawford fight in Las Vegas.
The commercial fee to stream the fight legally was $2,300, according to an Arizona lawsuit.
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In the lawsuits against Dubai, Camden Arts Yard, and Lai Lounge, G&G asks the court to award it over $170,000.
No representative from Dubai answered the company’s publicly available phone number, which leads to a full voicemail box. Camden Arts Yard and Lai Lounge did not respond to requests for comment.
In addition to the lawsuits filed this month, G&G has filed dozens of lawsuits in federal courts throughout the country since 2010 over alleged unauthorized broadcasting of boxing matches.
Thomas Riley, a California attorney representing G&G in the recently filed Pennsylvania and New Jersey cases, said his office “vigorously and rigorously” investigates events for “theft” using the assistance of private investigators. The amount of money that a suit asks for depends on whether the event was monetized, the size of the audience, and other factors.
“The predatory behavior of commercial piracy of a sporting event is significant,” Riley said. “It cost the client many many millions of dollars a year, sometimes per event.”