A federal judge for the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida last week dismissed an antitrust case brought by Brill Maritime Inc. against online marketplace Boats Group, which includes such sites as Boat Trader, Yacht World and boats.com.
Judge Roy K. Altman dismissed the five claims against Boats Group, which included two counts of Sherman Act violations (monopolization and attempted monopolization) and three Florida antitrust law violations. Additionally, Altman left leave to amend the case with a June 30 deadline.
The antitrust class action was brought Aug. 14, 2025, and alleged that:
“Boats Group has ‘willfully acquired[,] maintained[,] and expanded monopoly power in this market by engaging in exclusionary and anticompetitive conduct, including the serial acquisitions of its main competitors, unilateral price increases, restrictive contractual terms, and practices that hinder entry and expansion by rival platforms.’ Ibid. Brill ‘has been directly harmed by Boats Group’s conduct’ because it ‘has been forced to pay supracompetitive prices for essential marketing services with effectively zero viable alternatives available.’ ”
The plaintiff has an opportunity to amend by June 30. To succeed, Brill Maritime would need specific facts showing how the listing contracts actually foreclose rivals substantially, provide examples of recent exclusionary acts (not just price increases), and show evidence of anticompetitive intent/effect on the market as a whole.
