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Fox Sports Australia, the National Rugby League (NRL), and Fox Sports Streamco Pty Ltd. are seeking to have a proposed class action dismissed in a California federal court. The lawsuit alleges that the three entities violated viewers' privacy by disclosing personal data to Meta (formerly Facebook) and other third parties without consent. The companies argue that the case should be heard in Australia, not California, where the lawsuit was filed by a California subscriber.

In a brief submitted Thursday, the defendants contended that it makes little sense to continue litigation in the U.S. involving Australian companies. The NRL, based in Australia, governs rugby, and the Fox Sports entities operate the WatchNRL service, which allows subscribers to stream rugby league matches and related content. According to the defendants, all relevant documents, records, and witnesses are based in Australia, and litigating the case in California would result in unnecessary expenses, burdens, and delays.

The defendants further stated that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over them, emphasizing that the Watch NRL website's terms and conditions include an Australian choice of law provision, which complicates the case's legal standing in California.

In a separate filing, the NRL sought to dismiss the claims against it entirely, arguing that the plaintiff, Josh Blakeley, did not demonstrate why the NRL should be held accountable for the alleged actions, as the NRL was not directly responsible for the Watch NRL site.

The lawsuit, filed on August 9, accuses the NRL and the Fox Sports entities of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA). The plaintiffs claim that the Watch NRL service used Meta's tracking pixel code, transmitting personal data to Meta for advertising purposes without notifying subscribers in the site's privacy policy. This included information about every video viewed on Watch NRL, which was sent to Meta when users were logged into both Facebook and Watch NRL. Even after logging off from Facebook, the tracking continued, transmitting encrypted information to Meta.

The plaintiffs assert that they were unaware of the data transmission, which led to their inability to pursue their claims effectively. The tracking pixel and other similar tools used by Watch NRL were reportedly invisible to users.

Blakeley, a subscriber since June 2023, discovered the tracking earlier this year, prompting the class action lawsuit. The case is now before U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of California.

The plaintiffs are represented by HammondLaw PC, while the NRL and Fox Sports entities are defended by Baker & McKenzie LLP and Holland & Knight LLP.

Case Information:
The case is Josh Blakeley et al. v. The National Rugby League Ltd. et al., case number 3:24-cv-04923, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.