Yesterday attorneys for the UFC filed in the Northern California District Court a request to stay all discovery until after it issues a decision on Zuffa's motions to dismiss and transfer the class action antitrust suit that was brought against them by Cung Le, Nate Quarry, Jon Fitch, and eight other former UFC fighters.
According to the request to stay, on Sunday, April 26, the Plaintiffs served Zuffa with 59 separate requests for production of documents "seeking production of an enormously wide-ranging and detailed volume of information and electronic and hard copy documents relating to virtually every aspect of Zuffa's business. The bulk of these requests seek documents going back 15 years; however, at least one request goes back as far as 1993."
Zuffa also claims that "Plaintiffs seek 15 years of Zuffa's financial statements; balance sheets; regulatory filings; gate and merchandizing receipts from bouts, broken down by event, 'in as granular form as it is maintained'; revenues from broadcasts of bouts, broken down by event; advertising revenues, broken down by event; and revenues related to all MMA fighters, broken down by fighter, month and year, and itemized by revenue source and line item."
The Plaintiffs also apparently served at least one other third-party a subpoena that Zuffa's attorneys complain was done without providing notice to Zuffa in violation of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
In their request to stay Zuffa cites the case of Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly,arguing that the pending motion to dismiss and transfer should be resolved first before proceeding in what they claim might be a burdensome and expensive discovery. According to the request, if the case is dismissed discovery will be moot and if it is not then discovery can commence immediately.
If the Motion to Dismiss is not transferred to Nevada, the hearing is scheduled for July 23, 2015.
Some examples of the documents the Plaintiffs are requesting can be seen below:
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 11
Documents and data in as granular form as it is maintained, including by transaction or receipt, sufficient to show the following:
a. total gate receipts from bouts, broken down by event;
b. total merchandizing receipts from bouts, broken down by event and itemized
by revenue source and line item;
c. total revenues from PPV broadcasts of bouts, broken down by event and
itemized by revenue source and line item;
d. total revenues from non-PPV broadcasts of bouts, broken down by event and
itemized by revenue source and line item;
e. total revenues derived from the sale of advertising during all broadcasts of bouts, whether PPV or non-PPV, during the Relevant Time Period, broken down by event, month and year and itemized by revenue source and line item;
f. total revenues derived in any way from the Promotional and Ancillary Rights relating to each MMA Fighter during the Relevant Time Period, broken down by Fighter, month and year and itemized by revenue source and line item;
g. total revenues derived in any way from the Merchandise Rights, including licensing revenues, relating to each MMA Fighter at any time during the Relevant Time Period, broken down by Fighter, month and year and itemized by revenue source and line item;
h. total annual revenues derived from agreements with sponsors, and to the extent known, from agreements between MMA Fighters and sponsors, itemized by revenue source and line item;
i. total revenues derived from UFC Licensed Merchandise;
j. total revenues derived in any way from UFC Promotional Materials;
k. total revenues broken down by event;
l. total revenues derived by You from any companies in the MMA Industry,
broken down by company and transaction or line item;
m. for each event or bout, the gross and net price paid by customers for
transactions by unit, subscription, and/or ticket for a single Pay-Per-View,
ticket to a live event, or UFC Fight Pass subscription.
Zuffa files motion to stay discovery of '15 years of Zuffa's financial statements' - Bloody Elbow
