Here’s what you need to know about the lawsuit against the NFL filed by Sunday Ticket subscribers | Business

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

The case started on June 6 in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco. On June 30, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell dismissed the lawsuit and ruled for the NFL because she found that “Sunday Ticket” did not reduce the number of NFL games and that while DirecTV may have charged inflated prices, it did However, it would not “in itself constitute competitive harm” because it had to negotiate with the NFL to carry the package. Two years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case. On February 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled that the case could be litigated as a class action. On Jan. 12, Gutierrez rejected the NFL’s final attempt to dismiss the case.

The class action lawsuit covers more than 2.4 million individual subscribers and 48,000 businesses, mostly bars and restaurants, that purchased “NFL Sunday Ticket” between June 17, 2011 and February 7, 2023. Google’s YouTube TV became the provider of “NFL Sunday Ticket” ticket” last season.

The NFL may be the king of American sports and one of the most powerful leagues in the world, but it often loses in court, especially in Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles federal court in 1982 that a jury ruled that the league had violated antitrust rules by not allowing Al Davis to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles.

It’s one of the rare cases in which a high-profile case in which the league’s financial matters become public goes to court without the NFL first deciding it. In 2021, the league reached an agreement with St. Louis, St. County Louis and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority. Louis for $790 million in connection with the Rams’ move to Los Angeles.

According to notes provided by attorneys to plaintiffs, Fox and CBS always wanted the league to charge higher prices for “Sunday Ticket” so that it would not impact local ratings — the more subscribers to “Sunday Ticket,” the greater the risk to local audience numbers.

During opening statements, attorney Amanda Bonn showed a 2020 term sheet from Fox Sports, demanding the NFL ensure that “Sunday Ticket” will cost above $293.96 per season.

When the 2022 “Sunday Ticket” contract went out to bid, ESPN wanted to offer a bundle on its streaming service for $70 per season along with offering a product for each team, according to Bonn’s email. This was rejected by the NFL.

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.

Not for a while, as the NFL will appeal to the 9th Circuit and then likely to the Supreme Court.

The NFL could offer team-specific packages, something Major League Baseball and the NBA have done for out-of-market packages, and actively promote weekly packages if fans don’t like games being shown in their area.

With all the major leagues offering off-market packages, they are looking at the issue because individual teams selling their broadcast rights off-market, particularly in baseball, would further separate the haves from the have-nots.