The NFL has just been forced to pay the incredible amount of $4,700 million in a case that will benefit thousands of plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit filed against the professional football league of the United States.
A federal judge in California ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion to more than 2.4 million residential subscribers and about 48,000 businesses that paid for the off-market game package from the 2011 to 2022 seasons via DirecTV satellite television.
According to the class action lawsuit, the football league violated antitrust laws by selling its Sunday game package at an overly inflated price. the subscribers attached to this lawsuit claim that the league restricted competition by offering the “Sunday Ticket” pack with a single satellite provider, that is, DirecTV.
NFL’s $4.7 BILLION Sunday Ticket Settlement Marks Major Win for Plaintiffs
The deliberation of the jury composed of five men and three women lasted almost 5 hours before reaching a decision: the said court ordered that the plaintiffs receive an award of 4700 million dollars in damages for the residential ones, and about 96 million dollars in damages for the companies that joined the class action.
‘This case transcends football. This case matters,’ plaintiffs Attorney Bill Carmody said during Wednesday’s closing arguments. ‘It’s about justice. It’s about telling the 32 team owners who collectively own all the big TV rights, the most popular content in the history of TV – that’s what they have. It’s about telling them that even you cannot ignore the antitrust laws. Even you cannot collude to overcharge consumers. Even you can’t hide the truth and think you’re going to get away with it.’
Will the NFL Pay the Settlement Without Appealing the Case?
As expected, the NFL said in a statement that it does not accept having done anything wrong and will appeal the verdict in a court in California. “We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. 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,” the league said.
“We will certainly contest this decision, as we believe that the class action lawsuit claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial.”
Who Had the Guts to Sue the NFL? Here Are the Heroes!
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by San Francisco’s Mucky Duck sports bar, but it was dismissed by a court in 2017. two years later, the ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case and proceeded with it.
DirecTV had the exclusivity of the “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 until 2022. The league signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV that began with the 2023 season. If the NFL’s appeal is unsuccessful, that could mean cheaper prices for the Sunday game pack, availability on more cable or streaming providers, or both. But, don’t get too excited yet, because it may take several years before all judicial instances are exhausted by both parties.
