A Los Angeles jury in U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay more than $4.7 billion in damages after deciding that the league violated antitrust rules in distributing out-of-market Sunday games on a premium subscription service.
Per The Associated Press:
"The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering 'Sunday Ticket' only on a satellite provider."
The NFL said it intends to appeal the pricey verdict.
"We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit," the league said in a statement. "We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment."
"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial."
So, less than ideal — but so was the "Sunday Ticket" package in this instance, it seems.
"The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class," the AP reported. "Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
"The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV."
