Sports bars cannot legally pay the standard fee of $60 or so that consumers for pay-per-view events, but must instead buy a commercial license that is based on their capacity and starts at around $2,200 for a small bar.

As scores of bars around the country have learned the hard way, showing an event without permission is often met with swift legal action by the companies that market commercial licenses, which send teams of private investigators to scour unlicensed bars looking for those showing the fight.

J&J Sports Productions Inc., which handles the rights for major boxing matches, has filed 2,877 lawsuits since 2005, while Joe Hand Promotions Inc., which does the same for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has filed 2,650 over the same period, according to court records.

The complaints allege violations of the Federal Communications Act, which allows for statutory damages of up to $100,000 and attorneys' fees to the prevailing party. That gives companies like J&J a nearly insurmountable legal advantage that almost always results in settlements or default judgments, since investigators have video proof that the bar showed the fight without permission, attorneys say.

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