NFL hit that caused $4.7 billion in damages in Sunday ticket lawsuit (1)

The National Football League (National Football League-bsp-bb-link>) suffered an estimated $4.7 billion loss — which could be tripled under federal law — after losing a jury trial over anticompetitive elements of its Sunday Ticket package.

A jury in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday sided with football fans who claimed the league conspired with DirecTV to raise subscription prices for away games. The NFL and its teams have made the unusual decision to fight the consumer class action lawsuit at trial rather than negotiate a settlement.

The verdict came at the end of a three-week trial, preceded by less than a day of jury deliberations.

The central claim was that the league and the digital television service had an agreement that allowed them to force viewers to pay for out-of-market matches, even if their team was not playing, and charge higher prices.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell-bsp-person> was one of the witnesses defending the league at trial. Goodell testified that the subscription fee was set solely by DirecTV.

However, during closing arguments, a fan lawyer said that this was a “corporate line” and that a basic cable distribution model would double the average distribution of games.

NFL lawyers countered that the league’s current strategy is pro-competitive because it allows networks to invest in high-quality broadcasts and allows revenue to be shared among teams.

The NFL also argues that exclusive television agreements are protected by the Sports Broadcasting Act, which the league says “grants an exemption from antitrust laws for the sale of ‘all or any portion’ of broadcast rights.”

DirecTV, which has denied wrongdoing, has not faced trial since convincing a judge in 2021 to send customer claims against the company to closed-door arbitration.

Antitrust cases rarely go to trial because a verdict under US law can result in damages that can be tripled. Plaintiffs estimated damages in the Sunday Ticket case at nearly $7 billion.

The case is National Football Leagues Sunday Ticket Antitrust Case, 2:15-ml-02668, United States District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

(Updated jury deliberation length.)

To contact reporters about this story:
Ali Juell-bsp-person> in Los Angeles at [email protected];
Rachel Graf-bsp-person> in San Francisco at [email protected];
Maja Spoto in Arlington at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this article:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou-bsp-person> at [email protected]

Piotr Blumberg