Jury rules 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 the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust law by broadcasting Sunday afternoon games out of market via 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 be liable for $14.39 billion.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for a bundle of out-of-market games from the 2011-2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit alleged that 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 NFL has said it will appeal the ruling. That appeal will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then likely to the Supreme Court.

If the NFL decides to pay 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 national 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 across 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 and included 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.

In his closing remarks, Carmody showed an NFL memo from April 2017 that showed that in 2017, the league was exploring a world without the “Sunday Ticket,” in which cable channels aired out-of-market games on Sunday afternoons that were not shown 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 on July 31, including the NFL’s motions to rule in the league’s favor because the judge found the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.

Compensation payments, any changes to the Sunday Ticket package and/or the manner in which the NFL broadcasts Sunday afternoon games will be on hold until all appeals are resolved.

The league maintained that it had the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs said this only applies to terrestrial broadcasts, not pay TV.

The matter was also looked at by other professional sports leagues that also offer out-of-market packages. The key difference, however, is that the MLB, NBA and NHL leagues sell their packages to multiple distributors and share the revenue per subscriber, rather than receiving a direct rights fee.

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

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

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