Jury orders NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case for violating antitrust laws

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 distributing out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons on a streaming service. premium subscription.

The jury awarded $4.7 billion in residential class damages and $96 million in commercial class damages.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the out-of-market game package from the 2011 to 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit alleged that the league violated antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. Subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on one satellite provider.

The NFL said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit and possibly the Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed in 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 every NFL game broadcast on free broadcast television in participating team markets and national distribution of our most popular games, complemented by many additional 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 because we believe the class actions in this case are baseless and without merit.”

The jury of five men and three women deliberated for almost five hours before reaching their decision.

“This case transcends football. This case is important,” plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Carmody said during Wednesday’s closing arguments. “It’s a question of justice. It’s about telling the 32 team owners who collectively own all the major television rights, the most popular content in the history of TV – that’s what they have. It’s about telling them that even you can’t ignore antitrust laws. Even you cannot conspire to overcharge consumers. Even you can’t hide the truth and think you’ll get away with it.”

The league said it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its broadcast antitrust exemption. The plaintiffs claim this only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.

DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 until 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.

The lawsuit was originally 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.

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