NFL sends out new terms of service, including mandatory arbitration and class-action waiver

Recently, the NFL sent an email regarding terms of service update for its “websites, mobile applications, and other online and mobile services operated by NFL Enterprises LLC.” I received the email, and I’ve heard from multiple PFT readers who have gotten the same message.

Per the email, “The updates include changes to ‘Section 16. Limitation of Liability’ and the terms governing how disputes are handled, which are set forth in ‘Section 18. Choice of Law, Class Action Waiver, Small Claims, and Arbitration’ and ‘Section 19. Mandatory Pre-dispute Resolution Process.'”

Section 18.2 contains language that purports to waive the rights of consumers to band together as a class, requiring any potential claims against the NFL to be brought individually: “ANY PROCEEDINGS TO RESOLVE, ARBITRATE OR LITIGATE ANY DISPUTE WILL BE CONDUCTED SOLELY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. NEITHER YOU NOR THE NFL WILL SEEK TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION OR IN ANY OTHER PROCEEDING IN WHICH EITHER PARTY ACTS OR PROPOSES TO ACT IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY.”

Section 18.4 requires all disputes to be resolved in arbitration. The good news, if there is any, is that the NFL doesn’t try to grant the power to resolve the arbitration to the Commissioner or his designee, as the league does with many of its non-player employees. Instead, the NFL designates the American Arbitration Association as the entity that will resolve the matter.

There’s plenty more. It’s legalese. It’s gobbledygook. It’s potentially a worthless and unenforceable contract of adhesion that wouldn’t allow the NFL to engineer its way to minimum responsibility if/when its business practices violate the legal rights of consumers.

Parts of it are also laughable. At Section 19.1, the NFL requires consumers to send by certified mail or FedEx formal notice of any legal dispute to the league office before bringing any claim in any forum.

It’s not a sweeping agreement that applies to any and all claims that could ever be made against the…

Source link : https://www.yahoo.com/news/nfl-sends-terms-including-mandatory-211918814.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-10 21:19:18

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