A federal court has ordered that the NFL pay about $5 billion after a jury determined that it had violated antitrust laws by broadcasting out-of-market football games through premium subscription packages.According to The New York Times, the jury’s finding ends a monthlong trial—and, potentially, a class-action lawsuit filed nearly 10 years ago. The award includes an estimated $4.6 billion for consumers who subscribed to the “Sunday Ticket,” and puts aside an additional $96 million in compensation for bars and restaurants that purchased similar services.Lawyers representing the class argued in court last week that the NFL and its commercial partners violated federal law by agreeing to air almost all out-of-market games through high-cost subscription services that, between 1994 and 2023, were only offered by DirecTV and NFLUHD.

A football. Image via Flickr/user:Joe H. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/joebiologyuni/4961655382). (CCA-BY-2.0).

“NFL, FOX, CBS, and DirecTV agreed to make an expensive toll road that very few people would be able to afford,” attorney Amanda Bonn said in opening statements. “Every single competitor in this scheme benefited.”“This case transcends football,” said Bill Carmody, an attorney for the plaintiffs.“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,” he said. “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.”Since federal law allows for damages in certain antitrust cases to be tripled, the league could be liable for up to $14.39 billion. Not surprisingly, the NFL has already released a statement indicating that it plans to appeal.“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the NFL said in a statement. “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.”“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit,” the NFL said. “We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial.”

Sources

Jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws in 'Sunday Ticket' caseNFL must pay $4.7bn in damages after Sunday Ticket broadcast lawsuitN.F.L. Ordered to Pay Billions in Sunday Ticket Lawsuit