NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell arrives at federal court on June 17, 2024 in Los Angeles.
Damian Dovarganes/AP/AP
hide caption
caption conversion
Damian Dovarganes/AP/AP
LOS ANGELES — A jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages on Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws by distributes out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in compensatory damages to the residential group and $96 million in compensatory damages to the commercial group. Since damages could be tripled under federal antitrust law, the NFL could be liable for $14.39 billion.
The lawsuit involves 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for an out-of-market game package on DirecTV from the 2011 through 2022 seasons. The lawsuit claims the league violated antitrust laws by selling the Sunday game package at inflated prices. Subscribers also say the league limited competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on one satellite provider.
The NFL said it will appeal the ruling. That appeal will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
If the NFL has to pay damages, each of the 32 teams could lose about $449.6 million.
“We are disappointed with today’s jury verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which includes all NFL games being broadcast over-the-air over-the-air in participating teams’ markets, Our most popular matches, complemented by many other options including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, are by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly challenge this decision as we believe that the class action complaints in this case are baseless and without merit.”
The trial lasted three weeks and included testimony from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Justice has been served. The ruling maintains protections for consumers in our class. It’s a great day for consumers,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Carmody.
In his closing remarks, Carmody presented an April 2017 NFL memo that indicated the league was exploring a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, when cable channels would air out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons that weren’t shown on Fox or CBS.
The jury of five men and three women deliberated nearly five hours before reaching a decision.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request that he rule in favor of the league because the judge determined the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.
Payment of damages, any changes to the “Sunday Ticket” package and/or the way the NFL conducts Sunday afternoon games will be stayed until all appeals are concluded.
The league maintains the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under a broadcast antitrust exemption. The plaintiffs say that covers only over-the-air broadcasts, not pay television.
Other professional sports leagues are also keeping an eye on this, as they also offer out-of-market packages. However, one big difference is that MLB, NBA, and NHL market their packages across multiple distributors and share revenue per subscriber rather than receiving an outright licensing fee.
DirecTV has owned Sunday Ticket since its inception in 1994 through 2022. The league has signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV starting with the 2023 season.
The original lawsuit was filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled last year that the case could proceed as a class action.
