Jury Rules NFL Violated Antitrust Laws In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Case
If you want to watch NFL games that aren’t shown on local TV, you have to buy Sunday Ticket. Besides using unreliable streaming methods, there’s no easy way to watch your favorite team if you don’t live in their area.
Earlier this month, a class-action lawsuit filed by Sunday Ticket subscribers claiming that the NFL broke antitrust laws made its way to federal court on June 6. The Associated Press reported that the league’s attorney told jurors that fans have a choice when it comes to watching games and the “Sunday Ticket” package is a premium product.
Jury Rules NFL Violated Antitrust Laws in ‘Sunday Ticket’ Case
ESPN reported that a jury in the U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay more than $4.7 billion in damages Thursday after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in 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. Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could end up being liable for $14.39 billion.
Multiple reports are saying that 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 lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
While the NFL lost the Sunday Ticket ruling, the case is far from over. The NFL said in a statement that it will appeal the verdict.
The case, first brought in 2015, focuses on the NFL’s package of games outside of a local market that are not shown nationally on other networks. The suit says by restricting broadcasts of those “out-of-market” games to the Sunday Ticket package, the NFL is forcing customers who just want to watch one team, or a small group of teams have to pay more.
According to CNN, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued in a filing. “Given the relatively low cost of internet streaming and satellite and cable television carriage, each team acting independently would offer their games at a competitive price to anybody in the country who wanted to watch that particular team.” They continued, “Instead, however, the teams have all forgone this option in favor of creating a more lucrative monopoly.”
