(PatriotPostNews.com) — A federal court recently determined that football fans could be entitled to a great deal of money due to the verdict that the National Football League (NFL) violated antitrust laws.
On Thursday June 27, a jury in a District Court in Los Angeles decided that the NFL owes fans financial damages for breaking antitrust laws in its advertising and sales of the “Sunday Ticket” program, which allows viewers to watch each out-of-market game.
The case—first filed in 2015 by the San Francisco sports bar Mucky Duck—involves 2.4 million residential subscribers as well as 48,000 American businesses that purchased the “Sunday Ticket” package between 2011 and 2022.
The lawsuit was lodged against both the NFL and DirecTV. Though dismissed by a federal judge in 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case two years later. According to the plaintiffs, the NFL charged customers higher costs than legally permissible and that it only provided the service on a satellite provider.
The inflated price and allegedly intentional competition restriction therefore violated antitrust laws, the plaintiffs argued. The jury’s verdict awarded damages of $4.7 billion for the residential class and an additional $96 million to the commercial class. However, due to the possibility of tripling damages in federal antitrust laws, the league could be liable for a grand total of $14.39 billion.
In an interview last week, Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, criticized the verdict. He expressed that the organization “obviously disagree[s]” with the jury’s decision from last month, adding that the NFL is “committed” to obediently adhering to “the legal process,” which he described as “long.”
After acknowledging respect for the law, Goodell also said that the NFL “feel[s] very strongly” about its policies related to media, which are designed to make the games accessible for “the broadest possible audience” on streaming services. He added that the “Sunday Ticket” program is “a complimentary product” and that the league is determined to ensure that it “get[s] this right,” referring to the litigation.
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