Case Study — Case Studies — The Goodfriend Group

Journalists Beat Wall Street

The Goodfriend Group represents the Communications Workers of America, including its division of journalists, The NewsGuild-CWA. For years, the NewsGuild’s new, young President, Jon Schleuss, had been warning that hedge funds and private equity funds were undermining local journalism in the U.S. by buying local newspapers, laying off most of the reporters, and then selling the real estate and other assets. But the union was unable to persuade antitrust enforcers to stop any such transactions involving print or digital media.

Case StudyDavid GoodfriendJune 11, 2023journalismComment

Equal Pay for Team USA

Among America’s Olympic athletes, women are treated as second-class citizens–given lower pay, worse training conditions, less medical attention, and subpar travel and lodging arrangements. The Goodfriend Group, representing a non-profit we founded, Sports Fans Coalition (“SFC”), and SFC’s board member, Women’s World Cup Champion Hope Solo, set out to change that.

Case StudyBrian HessJanuary 5, 2023equalComment

"The Great War" with Ticketmaster

… Ready for it? Sports fans know All Too Well with the miserable ticketing process that Ticketmaster puts us through whenever we want to buy tickets to a game. They jack up prices with fees, restrict our right to transfer our tickets and make the general buying process frustrating. On behalf of Sports Fans Coalition, we’ve spent the last several years educating lawmakers and the public about this, and last week our efforts reached a boiling point. Call It What You Want; bad luck, Karma, or unchecked monopoly power run amok, Ticketmaster is no longer Untouchable.

Case StudyBrian HessNovember 21, 2022antitrust, sports, ticketsComment

An American Company Stands Up for National Security

An American consumer electronics manufacturer faced unfair competition and network security issues from a foreign-owned company. Realizing they needed a creative solution that also protected their identity they came to us. The national security concerns were alarming and we sprang to work.

Case StudyBrian HessSeptember 28, 2021national securityComment

The Sports Bettors' Bill of Rights

In May 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, releasing the floodgates for the introduction of dangerous sports betting legislation in the states. The sportsbook and casino industries finally had their opportunity to expand nationwide. Sports Fans Coalition witnessed the casino industry's aggressive tactics and knew that the outcome, left unchecked, would be detrimental to fans, consumers, people with gambling addiction problems, and even states seeking revenues from legalized sports betting.

Case StudyBrian HessApril 13, 2021sports, betting, state lobbyingComment

A Coalition Beats Goliath: FUSE & CWA vs. AT&T

FUSE Media, one of the Nation’s few remaining Latino-owned and managed independent television programming networks, had just completed its Latino management-team buyout when AT&T (including DIRECTV, U-Verse, and streaming platforms) refused to renew FUSE’s distribution agreement at financial terms that would allow the network to continue successful operations. What had been a victory celebration of Latino media ownership looked like it might become a funeral... bankruptcy at the hands of the largest Pay-TV/MVPD provider in the U.S.

Case StudyDavid GoodfriendDecember 22, 2020fuse, cwa, labor, mediaComment

Protecting Journalism During a Pandemic

COVID-19 and the resulting recession hammered workers across the economy but few were harder hit than the journalists and other employees of the local news industry. The News Guild-CWA, the largest labor union of media workers, historically had stayed out of any public policy advocacy due to the unique role of the Fourth Estate. But this was different. News Guild President Jon Schleuss believed that with local journalists losing jobs, and projected revenue losses for newspapers topping 70% in 2020, the Guild had to ask Congress for funding to keep journalists employed. They reached out to us for help.

Case Study, Blog, Op-edDavid GoodfriendDecember 21, 2020journalism, covid-19, the news guildComment

US Soccer Presidential Election

Sports Fans Coalition is no stranger to the underbelly of American sports. However, they weren’t prepared for the shadiness of the 2018 US Soccer Presidential Election. When they discovered the conflicts of interest, mistreatment of women, and exclusionary practices, SFC had no choice but to get involved.

Case StudyBrian HessMarch 1, 2018soccer, equal payComment

Ebay-Teamsters Partnership

When the International Brotherhood of Teamsters was organizing shuttle bus drivers in Silicon Valley, they asked us to develop support from major technology companies whose vendors employed the drivers. We persuaded eBay and others that an alliance with the Teamsters would help the companies’ own advocacy in state capitols from California, to Illinois and New York. The companies agreed and publicly supported the Teamsters’ organizing efforts. The Teamsters have provided critical support in return.

Case StudyDavid GoodfriendFebruary 28, 2015Tech, laborComment

Ending the Sports Blackout Rule

Starting back in 1975, the Federal Communications Commission’s Sports Blackout Rule required cable, and later satellite operators, to black out any game that a local broadcaster in any given market had to black out under league rules. The leagues, especially the NFL, imposed particularly anti-consumer local blackout policies. The NFL said that if a stadium did not sell out a few days prior to kickoff, the local broadcaster had to black out that game. This was designed to force fans to buy more tickets. The FCC’s regulation put the weight of the federal government behind extending the obnoxious league rule to cable and satellite TV providers.

Case StudyDavid GoodfriendSeptember 30, 2014sports, telecom, FCCComment