A California federal judge has ordered the NFL to pay approximately $4.7 billion in damages in a class-action lawsuit. The ruling states that the league violated antitrust laws by inflating subscription prices for out-of-market game packages. The NFL plans to appeal the decision.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential and 48,000 commercial subscribers who purchased the “Sunday Ticket” package from DirecTV between 2011 and 2022. The plaintiffs argued that the NFL broke antitrust laws by selling the package at an inflated price and restricting competition by offering it exclusively through a satellite provider.
The jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million to the commercial class. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Bill Carmody, emphasized the significance of the case, stating that it transcends football and is about holding the NFL accountable for ignoring antitrust laws and overcharging consumers.
Some NFL fans who subscribed to DirecTV have expressed disappointment over the network’s advertising, which implied access to all NFL games.
The NFL maintains its media distribution strategy is fan-friendly, but the plaintiffs argue that the class-action claims are baseless. DirecTV held the “Sunday Ticket” rights from 1994 to 2022, after which the NFL signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV.
Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, admitted that he believed the league’s network was subpar and sold Thursday Night Football rights to other networks.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2015 by a sports bar but was later dismissed and reinstated in 2019. As part of the class-action suit, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the league’s network production standards were below those of major networks like CBS and Fox.
The NFL’s media distribution strategy and the league’s stance on antitrust laws are sure to be closely scrutinized as the appeal process unfolds.
