the investigative unit's liz wagner explains. >> reporter: you can order pay per view fights on your tv at home, but business owners have to buy special commercial rights to show the boxing matches in restaurants and bars. owners of a small local tavern reached out to the investigative unit after becoming the targets of what they call a money making scheme. anchored in the sleepy city of cotati, you'll find the 8 ball tavern, a little neighborhood bar with a lot of history. >> this is an original picture of the bar. it was established in 1937. >> owners rick and john thefr saw much trouble until last year when they received this, a lawsuit claim thag showed a pay per view boxing match in their bar they didn't have the right to broadcast. the fight before the much anticipated pacquiao versus bradley bout in 2013. >> did you show the fight that night? >> absolutely not. just no. >> reporter: a sucker punch in a fight they didn't pick. their opponent, j and j sports productions in campbell. the company buys the rights to broadcast from event promoters and resells the rights to bars and

investigative producer liz wagner joins us now with the details. liz? >> reporter: well, raj, bay area bar owners say they've been shaken down for thousands of dollars by a south bay company that sells commercial licenses for pay-per-view boxing matches. a tavern in sonoma county was slapped with a six-figure lawsuit, a company that licenses televised events claims the 8 ball showed a fight it didn't have the commercial rights to broadcast. the bar owners say they never aired the bout in their bar and they're calling what's happening to them extortion. >> these guys out here are extorting small business because for lack of better words, they're scared. >> reporter: and coming up tonight at 11:00, the investigative unit shows you the video evidence against the 8 ball tavern. the owners are calling fraudulent and we examine a system critics say is hurting small businesses across the country. raj? >> okay, liz, thank you. if you have a tip for liz wagner or anyone else in our investigative unit, give us a call, 888-966-tips or e-mail us directly at theunit

for the investigative unit, i'm liz wagner. >> if you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call at 888-996-tips or e-mail us at tips@nbcbayarea.com. >>> multiple sources tell nbc that billionaire michael bloomberg may run for president as an independent, but only if bernie sanders beats out hillary clinton for the democratic nomination and either donald trump or senator ted cruz win the republican nomination. meanwhile trump says he's so confident in the loyalty of his supporters, he could shoot someone and not lose any voters. the republican front-runner spoke at a campaign stop in iowa. >> people, my people are so smart -- you know what else they say about my people, the polls say i have the most loyal people. i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters. it's incredible. >>> the latest polling shows trump ahead in iowa with a slim two-point lead over cruz. the iowa caucuses are a week from tomorrow. >>> the bay area is experiencing a severe shortage of blood. stanford says blood supplies have been depleted recently becau

nbc bay area investigative producer liz wagner is with us. this involves pay per view fights. a big business? >> that's right. you may have ordered a fight at home. business owners is to buy commercial rights to show the matches in bars or restaurant. owners of a local tavern contacted investigative unit after becoming the targets of what they called a money-making scheme. anchored in this sleeping city, you'll find the eight ball tavern. a little neighborhood bar with a lot of history. >> this is an original picture of the bar. it was established in 1937. >> reporter: owners, rick and john, never saw much trouble until last year when they received this -- a lawsuit claiming they showed a pay per view boxing match in their bar they didn't have the trite broadca-- the right to br. the pacquiao versus bradley bout in 2014 d. you show the fight that night? >> absolutely not. just no. >> reporter: a sucker punch in a fight they didn't pick. their opponent, j&j sports productions in campbell. the company buys the rights to broadcast boxing matches from event promoters, then resells

nbc bay area investigator liz wagner joins us. >> you can order pay-per-view fights on your tv at home but businesses have to buy a special license to show them commercially. owners of the taverns reached out after being targets of what they call a money-making scheme. anchored in this sleepy city, you will find the eight-ball tavern, a neighborhood bar with a lot of history. >> this is an original picture of the bar. it was established in 1937. >> the owners never saw much trouble until last year when they received this. a lawsuit claiming they showed a pay-per-view bocking match in their bar they didn't have the right to broadcast. the fight was the pacquiao versus bradley bout in 2014. >> did you show the fight that night? >> absolutely not. just no. >> reporter: a sucker punch in a fight they didn't pick. their opponent j and j sports productions in campbell. the company buys the right to broadcast and resells the rights to bars and restaurants. it's unlawful for businesses to show the events without paying a license fee. >> i laughed. i just figured it was another scam. >> reporte

. >> liz wagner, we look forward to updates. thank you very much. >> we know you guys get a little meat on that bone and don't let it go. so you'll be following up on that one. if you have a tip for our investigative unit, give us a call 888-996-tips, or send us an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com. >>> the violent beating of an uber driver caught on camera. and an uber rider initially apologetic. >> but now a legal u-turn. that man is suing the driver for $5 million. he claims that that videotaping was without his consent, violated his rights. we've been talking about it for a week, but the question we have now, does he have a case? >> nbc bay area's sam brock checked it out in our reality check. >> the case, believe it or not, kind of falls into a gray area. in question is california's two-party consent law. it's a law that says you have to be aware of any recording of confidential communication. the rider in this case may or may not have been aware, but it won't matter if a court find there was no expectation of privacy in the

liz final state of the union address. up and reaction from >>> welcome back. on the money watch this morning they say caring and sharing. >>> jill wagner has more. two foreign automakers took top hono at the detroit auto show. e volvo truck won truck of the year the redesigned honda civic won car of the year. and soon your car will know how much sleep you have had, and adjust accordingly. ford is creating technology that syncs with your health watch. if you are tired or stressed the car will adjust safety settings. the cruise control would leave your distance between cars. >> with the amount of sleep i get and probably you the car would shut off and tell us no, you need to not drive at all. >> reporter: exactly, it is going to lock the door. >> reporter: a lot of people share netflix subscription accounts and they might think that is a no, no. >> reporter: apparently sharing is caring. feel guilty about using a friend's account. reid hastings told the crowd he actually thinks it is a good thing. because people who share someone else's netflix account usually become paying subscribe enters customers down the line. >> now the thing is ho