Jury ordered $4.8 billion in damages for residential class and $96 million for commercial class
Lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses from 2011 to 2022 seasons
NFL violated antitrust laws with Sunday Ticket
In a landmark decision, a jury ruled that the National Football League (NFL) violated antitrust laws by distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games through its premium subscription service, Sunday Ticket. The lawsuit, which covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States from the 2011 to 2022 seasons on DirecTV, resulted in a $4.7 billion damages award for the residential class and $96 million for commercial class (which could potentially be tripled under federal antitrust laws).
The NFL maintained that it had the right to sell Sunday Ticket under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. However, plaintiffs argued that this exemption only applied to over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017 before being reinstated two years later and ruled as a class action by Judge Philip Gutierrez.
The NFL's decision to sell Sunday Ticket exclusively through DirecTV, rather than offering it to other providers like ESPN or Google's YouTube TV, was a significant point of contention during the trial. Evidence presented showed that the NFL turned down cheaper and more flexible offers from these companies in favor of maintaining its exclusive deal with DirecTV.
The jury's verdict could potentially change the way teams make money and lead to individual game or team packages being offered instead of bundled subscriptions. The NFL, which has an annual revenue of over $18 billion, has already announced plans to appeal the decision.
A jury ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service, ordering the league to pay over $4.7 billion in damages.
, The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.
The NFL maintained it had the right to sell ‘Sunday Ticket’ under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting, but plaintiffs argued that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco but was dismissed in 2017. It was reinstated two years later and ruled as a class action by Judge Gutierrez.
A federal jury in Los Angeles decided that the N.F.L. must pay almost $5 billion in damages for artificially inflating the price of Sunday Ticket, a subscription service offered by DirecTV that showed out-of-market games.
The verdict includes about $96 million in damages for bars and restaurants that subscribed to the service, and over $4.6 billion for roughly 2.4 million residential subscribers.
Damages in antitrust cases like this are tripled by law, which means the league may have to pay more than $14 billion.
The NFL has been ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages in a class action antitrust lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of residential and commercial customers who paid for the NFL's Sunday Ticket package on DirecTV from 2011 to 2022.
The NFL and its teams were accused of conspiring to give DirecTV an illegal monopoly on out-of-market games.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that the NFL turned down cheaper and more flexible offers for Sunday Ticket from other providers, such as ESPN.
The jury awarded $96 million in damages to bars and restaurants and $4.7 billion to customers.
NFL ordered to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.
The NFL signed a seven-year deal with Google's YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season.
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The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy when the NFL states 'We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.' This statement implies that because the NFL believes their distribution model is fan-friendly, it must be true. However, this does not provide any evidence or logical reasoning to support this claim.
We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
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