(HorizonPost.com) – A federal jury in late June ordered the National Football League to pay damages amounting to nearly $4.8 billion after it determined that the NFL violated antitrust laws by distributing out-of-market Sunday football games exclusively through a premium subscription service.
In the class action suit, the jury awarded damages of $4.7 billion to the residential class and another $96 million to the commercial class. Since damages in federal antitrust lawsuits could be tripled, the NFL could ultimately be liable for damages amounting to nearly $14.4 billion.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million US residential subscribers and another 48,000 businesses who paid for the “Sunday Ticket” package via DirecTV from 2011 to 2022.
The lawsuit alleged that by selling the “Sunday Ticket” package at an inflated price, the league violated antitrust laws. It also alleged that the NFL restricted competition by offering the package only to the satellite provider.
The NFL said it plans to appeal the verdict to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and even to the Supreme Court.
Should the verdict be upheld, the cost to each of the 32 NFL teams would be roughly $449.6 million.
DirecTV held the exclusive rights for the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package until the 2023 season after YouTube TV purchased the rights for $2 billion a year.
In a statement following the jury verdict, the NFL said it was “disappointed” with the decision and maintained that its “media distribution strategy” continued to be “the most fan-friendly distribution model” in sports and entertainment.
The league described the class action claims as “baseless and without merit,” and said it would “contest this decision.”
Attorney Bill Carmody, who represented the plaintiffs, said that the verdict upheld consumer protection and said “justice was done.”
The 8-member jury deliberated for about five hours following the three-week trial before reaching its verdict.
The judge scheduled a hearing on post-trial motions for July 31. The hearing will include a motion from the NFL asking the judge to throw out the jury verdict.
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