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Reducing Litigation Risks for Sports Organizations In PI Data Collection

By Michael Bahar and Baird Fogel and Jonathan Freimann and Thomas Spring
July 31, 2025

What started off as a law directed at Blockbuster video rentals is now being deployed against the New England Patriots, part of a broader privacy trend that will increasingly impact a sports industry eager to embrace advanced technologies that exploit fan and athlete data. A class action filed against the NFL team alleged the storied franchise ran afoul of the 1998 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. §2710 et seq., by sharing the personal information (PI) of fans who used the team’s app. Serra v. New England Patriots, 4:24cv40022 (D. Mass.)

While the federal district court recently gave preliminary approval for a settlement arising from this complaint, the case signals a rising concern for the sports industry: as more teams, stadiums and streaming services embrace data and advanced technologies, the more susceptible they will be to privacy class action litigation and regulatory enforcement action.

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