PFT: Lawsuit filed against NFL over Tony Romo’s canceled convention

boozeman

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Lawsuit filed against NFL over Tony Romo’s canceled convention

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2015, 4:56 PM EDT

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The NFL recently shut down the fantasy football convention that Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had planned to host in Las Vegas. And now the organizers of the event are fighting back.

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, Fan Expo LLC sued the NFL in Dallas on Monday, alleging that the NFL illegally interfered with the event by forcing its cancellation.

On one hand, it’s no secret that NFL players are prohibited from hosting events at casinos. On the other hand, the NFL allegedly engaged in some heavy-handed tactics that could get a judge or a jury to find a way around the policy, especially since Romo’s event wasn’t slated to be held within a casino itself.

For example, the lawsuit alleges that an NFL executive called the mother of Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to say her son would be fined or suspended if he showed up at the event. The lawsuit also alleges that the NFL threatened Michael Fabiano of NFL Network with termination of his employment if he followed through with his plan to participate in the event.

The league had no comment to Rovell on the lawsuit. Eventually, the league will have to comment in court, possibly starting with an effort to dismiss the case based on the notion that Romo was barred by rule from hosting it. If that effort fails and the discovery process begins, there could be plenty of interesting nuggets of testimony that come from plenty of depositions in advance of what would be a potentially compelling trial in open court.
 

ravidubey

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data

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NFL isn't preventin promotion of fantasy football, just isn't allowing its players to do it in one particular city because of a very specific reason.

i wouldn't be surprised if NFL players have been warned not to mention fantasy football in post-game interviews, even as a joke.

Erin Andrews: Peyton, why did you throw the ball for a touchdown there in the 4th qtr?
peyton: well, demaryius is on my fantasy team and my fantasy team is in the playoffs. All kidding aside, I saw the matchup at the line and saw one-on-one coverage where demaryius has a height advantage and...
 
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Cowboysrock55

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NFL isn't preventin promotion of fantasy football, just isn't allowing its players to do it in one particular city because of a very specific reason.
The NFL wasn't getting their cut so they didn't want it to happen. That is the reality of the situation. What they did was twist the player conduct policy so as to threaten all players with suspension if they were to attend the event and thus shut the event down. I agree with the lawsuit. This was a great example of the NFL selectively enforcing the rules when they weren't receiving the financial benefit.
 
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