Jury begins deliberations in class-action lawsuit against NFL filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers.

The league memo was shown by the plaintiffs during their closing arguments Wednesday, as the jury in the class-action lawsuit filed by Sunday Ticket subscribers began deliberations.

After receiving instructions from U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, the jury heard the plaintiffs’ closing statement in the morning. After lunch, the NFL presented its closing remarks before the plaintiffs had 20 minutes to rebut.

During the trial, which lasted three weeks and included testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, an April 21, 2017, memo titled “NFL New Frontier” was one of the key pieces of content.

The memo reimagined Sunday afternoons when every game was broadcast on television or cable. Fox and CBS would pay 25% less per game (about $10 million per game), while cable networks would pay $9 million per game, which was the average amount paid by DirecTV under its deal with the league.

The data included rights that expired after the 2022 season. These averages would now be higher for deals that started last season.

The league note showed early games on FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, TNT, NFL Network and CBS Sports Network and late games on FS1, TBS and TNT.

“The NFL knew that 35 million fans were not getting enough help,” William Carmody, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said in closing arguments. “We are holding them accountable. This is about telling 32 team owners that even you can’t break antitrust laws and overcharge fans. It’s not okay to compete on the field, but it is okay to collude off it.”

Some of the out-of-market games covered by the NFL memo, however, would not be broadcast on regular cable television. Fans and cable companies would also cover some of the costs through higher subscription fees.

The lawsuit covers 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for a package of out-of-market games from the 2011-2022 seasons on DirecTV. It claims the league violated antitrust laws by selling a package of Sunday games at an inflated price. Subscribers also claim the league limits competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only from a satellite provider.

The league maintains that it has the right to sell the “Sunday Ticket” under an antitrust exemption for broadcasts. The plaintiffs argue that this applies only to terrestrial broadcasts, not pay television.

Beth Wilkinson, the NFL’s general counsel, said the league does not dispute that “Sunday Ticket” is a premium product and has always been advertised as such.

She also noted that league and broadcast executives have testified that the current model makes the most sense.

“The ‘Sunday Ticket’ option has been added. You choose, you know the price, you pay for it,” she said.

Even if a jury of five men and three women rules in favor of the plaintiffs, Gutierrez could still rule in favor of the NFL, finding that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.

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

If the NFL is found liable, a jury could award $7 billion in damages, but that number could rise to $21 billion because antitrust cases could triple damages. It would also change how the league would have to distribute out-of-market programming and could lead to the renegotiation of contracts with Fox and CBS. The current agreements with the league run through the 2033 season.

CBS and Fox pay a combined average of $4.3 billion per season for Sunday afternoon games, while YouTube TV pays an average of $2 billion per season for “Sunday Ticket” rights.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by San Francisco sports bar Mucky Duck, 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, revived the case. Last year, Gutierrez ruled that the case could be litigated as a class action.

Whatever the decision, the losing side is expected to appeal to the 9th Circuit and then possibly to the Supreme Court.

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