Cablevision Trying to Block Olympic Stadium, Jets Say

New York City's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games is in danger because of Cablevision Systems Corp.'s illegal efforts to maintain its monopoly over large-capacity entertainment venues in Manhattan, the New York Jets allege in a lawsuit filed March 16.

In a prepared statement, Cablevision spokesman Charles Schueler called the lawsuit "a desperate publicity stunt by the Jets and their fresh batch of lawyers."

According to the complaint, the National Football League team has spent more than $50 million thus far on plans to build a multi-purpose sports, entertainment and convention facility, known as the Sports and Convention Center, over a rail yard owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Manhattan's far west wide. According to the Jets, the MTA property is the only available site in Manhattan large enough for a project of this size.

In addition to serving as the Jets home field for NFL games and as a venue for other large events, the proposed complex is a cornerstone of New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, the complaint states.

Cablevision sees the Sports and Convention Center as a threat to the inflated profits it reaps from controlling all the large-capacity entertainment venues in Manhattan, the Jets' suit says. In addition to providing cable television services in the New York metropolitan area, the complaint explains, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden, the Theatre at Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall — the only enclosed Manhattan facilities that seat 5,000 or more people.

Cablevision's monopoly enables it to charge inflated rents to performers for use of the facilities and to overcharge the public for tickets, food and souvenirs, the complaint states.

In addition, the Jets allege, Cablevision is able to charge "exorbitant" fees for the 89 luxury suites at Madison Square Garden, which are substandard compared with the suites at other sports/entertainment venues.

According to the complaint, Cablevision's anti-competitive tactics include:

• Funding a "front group" called the New York Association for Better Choices to disseminate false and misleading information to the public;
• Refusing to run the Jets' advertising on its own networks and pressuring other networks on its system to also reject the ads;
• Filing baseless litigation seeking to prevent the MTA and New York Planning Commission from holding public hearings on development plans for the site; and
• Submitting an unsolicited $600 million bid to buy the MTA site for a mixed-use residential real estate development, an offer the Jets say was designed solely to delay the start of construction until after July 2005, when the International Olympic Committee makes its decision on the host city for the 2012 Games.

The complaint includes claims for monopolization under the Sherman Act, tortious interference with prospective business relations, and deceptive business practices under New York's General Business Law Section 349. It seeks compensatory damages, trebled pursuant to the Sherman Act, punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorney fees and costs.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. of the Southern District of New York.

The Jets are represented by David Boies of Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Armonk, N.Y.; Robert J. Dwyer, Paul R. Verkuil and Alanna C. Rutherford of the firm's New York office; Jonathan D. Schiller of the firm's Washington, D.C., office; and Marc E. Kasowitz, Daniel R. Benson and Daniel J. Fetterman of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman in New York.