Apple was as soon as believed to be the front-runner for buying rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, however talks ultimately broke down and paved the best way for YouTube to accumulate the rights beginning this 12 months.

In the meantime, the NFL has discovered itself embroiled in a category motion lawsuit over the closed-door negotiations for Sunday Ticket rights, however Apple says that it needs no half in that lawsuit.

As first reported earlier this 12 months, the NFL is battling a $6 billion class motion lawsuit that accuses the corporate of artificially driving up the price of Sunday Ticket. The case is split into two separate classes, one centered on complaints from business entities like bars and eating places, and one other centered on complaints from particular person client Sunday Ticket subscribers.

By way of the category motion lawsuit, the NFL is being pressured to disclose why Sunday Ticket talks with the likes of Apple and Amazon fell aside. Specifically, the plaintiffs have expressed considerations round why there are so few paperwork out there with particulars on the negotiations particularly between Apple and the NFL.

To assist shed extra mild on these talks, Apple obtained a subpoena calling on Apple’s Providers VUP Eddy Cue to testify as a part of the case. Because the boss of Apple’s Providers division, Cue was the centerpiece of Apple’s talks with the NFL.

Apple, nonetheless, doesn’t imagine that Cue must play a task within the class motion go well with. Apple just isn’t a named social gathering within the case, however plaintiffs need Cue to supply particulars on Apple’s talks with the NFL for Sunday Ticket – together with particulars on why these talks seemingly fell aside on the eleventh hour.

In a brand new submitting this week, as noticed by Reuters, Apple has rebuffed makes an attempt to get Cue to testify within the case. Apple argues that questioning Cue would profit “unduly burdensome.” Moreover, Apple legal professionals say that the plaintiffs within the case are looking for “irrelevant, disproportionate, and competitively delicate” info.

Requiring Cue to testify and reveal such info, Apple says, is pointless. “Plaintiffs can’t present that Mr. Cue has distinctive, non-duplicative data of the information within the underlying litigation,” Apple’s legal professionals wrote.

Whether or not or not Apple is profitable in its efforts to forestall Cue from testifying stays to be seen. It does look like a tricky promote to get Cue to take the stand in a case Apple just isn’t immediately named as a celebration. Nonetheless, crazier issues have occurred.

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