Gator Fans Sue Fox to Watch Sugar Bowl
ORLANDO (CN) - In a class action, Florida Gators football fans want News Corp. and Fox TV enjoined from abusing their local cable TV monopoly by "pulling the plug" on Time Warner's Bright House Networks on Jan. 1, just before the Sugar Bowl.
They claim Fox is using the Sugar Bowl broadcast as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Time Warner.
The Gator fans say Fox and its corporate parent threatened to pull the plug on Bright House at the stroke of midnight, Dec. 31-Jan. 1, as a power play in its carriage negotiations with Time Warner.
"Through its threats against BHN, Fox is unconscionably and unfairly exploiting completely innocent Florida consumers who are obviously anxious to watch the Sugar Bowl," according to the complaint in Orange County Court.
Plaintiffs Thomas Moore and Richard Anderson point out that the New Year's Day game between the Florida Gators and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will be "Tim Tebow's last game for the Gators. This is an event of undeniable public interest and of particular interest to the plaintiffs."
They want to watch the game. They are represented by John Morgan.