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The NFL has been ordered to pay more than $4.7 billion in damages by a jury in U.S. District Court in relation to a lawsuit stemming from its 'Sunday Ticket' subscription service, ESPN reported on Wednesday (June 27).
The league was found to have violated antitrust law in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service and ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class.
"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 NFL said in a statement obtained by ESPN.
"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action 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 Gutierrez throughout the trial."
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the 'Sunday Ticket' package from 2011 through 2022 through DirecTV prior, who claimed the NFL broke antitrust laws by selling the package at an inflated price, as well as restricting competition to only offer the service on a satellite provider prior to switching to YouTube TV last season.
"This case transcends football. This case matters," plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said during closing arguments on Wednesday via ESPN. "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."