Gill v. National Football League

Background

Sietel Singh Gill sued the National Football League and NFL Enterprises LLC after the Game Pass Pro livestream allegedly failed during the 2020 Super Bowl. Gill alleged that he subscribed to Game Pass in 2013, that his subscription automatically renewed through the 2019–2020 season, and that the service crashed during the game. He brought claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and unjust enrichment on behalf of a proposed class of affected international subscribers.

The complaint alleged that the NFL and NFL Enterprises were parties to Gill’s original agreement and remained responsible for the service. The materials before the court also referred to Overtier Operations and Deltatre S.p.A. as entities involved in licensing and operating Game Pass. The defendants argued that the later terms showed that they were not in a contractual relationship with Gill and that the complaint did not identify a specific contractual provision that they breached.

Legal Standards

The court applied New York law because the parties relied on that law in their briefs and agreed that it should govern the pending motions. On a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), the court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true and asks whether they plausibly show an entitlement to relief. The court also explained that motions to strike class allegations are generally disfavored before discovery, unless it is clear from the complaint that class treatment cannot proceed.

Contract and Implied-Warranty Claims

The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the breach-of-contract and implied-warranty claims. Under New York law, these claims generally require privity, meaning a contractual relationship between the plaintiff and defendant. The court found that the complaint plausibly alleged that Gill contracted with the NFL and NFL Enterprises in 2013. The 2013 terms described the NFL as offering Game Pass and referred to a third party operating the service, which did not clearly disprove Gill’s allegations.

The court also found that the complaint plausibly alleged automatic renewals and did not clearly establish that the NFL and NFL Enterprises had been removed from the contractual relationship by 2019–2020. Whether those defendants were in fact parties responsible to Gill required discovery. The court further held that Gill did not have to attach the contract or identify a particular paragraph that was breached. The complaint adequately described the alleged obligation to livestream NFL games, including the Super Bowl, and the alleged breach arising from the interruption.

Unjust-Enrichment Claim

The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the unjust-enrichment claim. Although unjust enrichment can sometimes be pleaded as an alternative to a contract claim, the court held that Gill’s complaint necessarily alleged an enforceable contract governing the streaming service. The unjust-enrichment claim was based on the same interruption and sought substantially the same recovery as the contract claim, making it duplicative.

Class Allegations

The court denied the defendants’ motion to strike the class allegations as premature. The defendants argued that the proposed class might include people who lacked a contractual relationship with them or whose claims involved individualized issues, including different governing laws and jurisdictions. The court held that those issues were better addressed at the class-certification stage after discovery. The denial was without prejudice to the defendants’ ability to raise similar arguments later when class certification was considered.

Disposition

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss except as to the unjust-enrichment claim, which the court dismissed. The court also denied the motion to strike the class allegations, without prejudice to later opposition to class certification. The court directed the parties to conduct initial discovery focused on the contractual relationship governing Gill’s Game Pass service and to submit a joint case-management plan.