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NFL found liable for $4,707,259,944.64 in Sunday Ticket case

Posted on by darion

LOS ANGELES — The damages that a federal court ordered the NFL to pay for violating antitrust laws related to its out-of-market distribution of Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service totaled $4,707,259,944.64.

What you need to know

  • The damages that a federal court ordered the NFL to pay for violating antitrust laws related to its out-of-market distribution of Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service totaled $4,707,259,944.64

  • The amount of the June 27 judgment against the NFL was listed on a judgment form that was released in the case file Tuesday.

  • The lawsuit involved 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for a DirecTV package that included out-of-market games from the 2011-2022 seasons.

  • The lawsuit alleged that the league violated antitrust laws by selling a package of Sunday games at an inflated price.

The numbers from the June 27 judgment against the NFL were listed on a judgment form that was filed in the case file Tuesday.

The lawsuit involved 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for a package on DirecTV that included out-of-market games from the 2011–2022 seasons. The lawsuit claimed that the league violated antitrust law by selling the package at an inflated price. Subscribers also claimed that the league limited competition by offering the “Sunday Ticket” exclusively on a satellite provider.

A jury of five men and three women ruled that the NFL is liable for paying damages of $4,610,331,671.74 to individual customers (home users) and $96,928,272.90 to business customers (enterprise users).

Because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust law, the NFL could ultimately be liable for $14,121,779,833.92.

The compensation will be split evenly among the 32 teams, meaning each team will have to pay $441.3 million.

During deliberations, the jury requested data on the number of class action subscribers each year, as well as the cost of each type of Sunday Ticket subscription.

The jury also subpoenaed reports from four economists who testified on behalf of the plaintiffs and the NFL, but they were not admitted into evidence.

Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31, including the NFL’s request for a ruling in the league’s favor, finding that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.

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

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.