during the class period, that there are no barriers to enter the fight promotion market, and that it did not prevent competitors from signing and promoting fighters. The court found that the fact that the raw numbers of fighters, bouts, and compensation increased was not dispositive and credited the plaintiffs’ evidence that their wages were still suppressed. The court also noted that it expressly rejected the defendant’s arguments regarding barriers to entry and completion in the class certification decision. Subsequently, on March 20, 2024, a regulatory filing by UFC parent company, TKO Group Holding Inc., revealed that TKO will pay $375 million to settle a class action brought by MMA fighters who alleged that the UFC engaged in anticompetitive conduct to suppress the fighters’ wages in Le, et al. v. Zuffa, LLC , Case No. 15-CV-1045 (D. Nev. Mar. 20, 2024). The parties had engaged in mediation prior to the start of trial scheduled for April 15, 2024. The settlement, which will be paid out over an unspecified amount of time, resolves all of the antitrust wage-suppression claims against the UFC and avoids the risks associated with trial. The parties will still need to present the settlement to the court for preliminary and final approval pursuant to Rule 23. On January 19, 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously held the Illinois Antitrust Act does not allow staffing agencies to avoid allegations that they suppressed wages and agreed not to hire each other’s workers in The State Of Illinois ex rel. Kwame Raoul, et al. v. Elite Staffing, Inc ., Case No. 2024 IL 128763 (Ill. Jan. 19, 2024). The Illinois Supreme Court rejected defense arguments that the complaint failed to state a cause of action because the Illinois Antitrust Act provides that services otherwise subject to the Act “shall not be deemed to include labor which is performed by natural persons as employees of others.” Id. at 3. It concluded that reading the Illinois Antitrust Act so broadly would contradict the entire purpose of the Act, therefore it found that the Act does not exclude all agreements concerning labor services, including the conduct alleged. III. Top Antitrust Class Action Settlements In 2024 In 2024, the top ten antitrust class action settlements totaled over $8.42 billion, a decrease as compared to the prior year. By comparison, the top ten settlements for antitrust class actions in 2023 totaled $11.74 billion.
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© Duane Morris LLP 2025
Antitrust Class Action Review – 2025
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