Jury finds NFL violated antitrust laws in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case, awards $4.7 billion in damages

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A U.S. District Court jury on Thursday ordered an NFL team to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws by distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.

The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could ultimately face liability of $14.39 billion.

The lawsuit covers 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States that paid for a bundle of out-of-market games from the 2011–2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit alleges that the league violated antitrust laws by selling the bundle of Sunday games at an inflated price. Subscribers also claim that the league is limiting competition by offering the “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

The NFL said it would appeal the ruling. That appeal will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then likely to the Supreme Court.

If the NFL ultimately pays compensation, it could cost each of the 32 teams 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 broadcast on free over-the-air television in participating team markets and nationwide distribution of our most popular games, complemented by a variety of additional options including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is 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 claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”

The trial lasted three weeks, with testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

“Justice has been done. The verdict upholds consumer protections in our class. It was a great day for consumers,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Carmody.

During closing arguments, Carmody showed an NFL memo from April 2017 that showed the league was considering the possibility of a world without “Sunday Ticket” in 2017, in which cable channels would air out-of-market Sunday afternoon games not available on Fox or CBS.

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

Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions July 31, including the NFL’s motion to enter a ruling in the league’s favor because the judge found the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.

Payment of compensation and any changes to the Sunday Ticket package and/or the way the NFL broadcasts Sunday afternoon games will be suspended until all appeals are resolved.

The league maintained that it had the right to sell the “Sunday Ticket” under its broadcast antitrust exemption. The plaintiffs said that only applied to terrestrial broadcasts, not pay television.

Other professional sports leagues have also been following the case, as they also offer out-of-market packages. The main difference, however, is that MLB, NBA, and NHL sell their packages to multiple distributors and share the revenue per subscriber rather than receiving a rights fee.

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

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by San Francisco sports bar Mucky Duck but was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reopened the case. Last year, Gutierrez ruled the case could proceed as a class action.

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