As Gizmodo reported Sunday, many of the fighting sports fans who paid to see two men beat each other within an inch of their lives struggled to get their $100 worth. Lag, stuttering streams, or complete inability to access the Showtime app, The Hollywood Reporter notes, are now the basis for a US class action lawsuit.
Image: AP
Showtime’s app allegedly promised the massively lopsided bout would display in 1080p resolution at 60 frames-per-second, but according to attorney Michael Fuller, the company “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”. Currently the suit only applies to customers in Oregon, and as THR mentions, the complaint itself “is largely composed of screenshots and tweets”.
Pay-Per-View Live Events Inc. has told customers to get their refunds from the specific streaming service they used. While Showtime has agreed to issue full refunds for customers affected, similar streaming problems were reported with alternate pay-per-view service UFC’s Fight Night. UFC has, so far, not issued a statement regarding refunds or been the target of any lawsuits regarding the Mayweather-McGregor match.
Granted, the much-anticipated match managed to choke several sites with excessive traffic, with both Reddit and Discord experiencing some limited service due — most likely — to those seeking a pirated stream. But given how much hype and publicity was poured into this match, Showtime (and UFC) had some idea of what to expect.
It may seem a small matter to start a lawsuit over, but having also recently been cheated out of $100, the impulse is understandable:
If Mayweather beat Mcgregor I’ll give 100.00 to each person that retweets this in the next hour. #MayweathervMcgregor #boxing #fight #TMT pic.twitter.com/cpffSbpzn9
— Michael C. Gilchrist (@Gilchrist_Inc) August 27, 2017