OAN’s James Meyers
3:40 PM – Thursday, June 27, 2024
After only two days of deliberation, the jury in the NFL “Sunday Ticket” trial has determined that the NFL violated antitrust laws.
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The jury found that the league must pay fans close to $4.7 billion, plus $96 million to bars and pubs that utilized the exclusive service to display games, after they found the NFL guilty of making “Sunday Ticket” accessible only on DirecTV, thus monopolizing prices.
However, in a response statement released, the NFL indicated it would appeal the decision, calling it “baseless and without merit.”
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said. “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. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge Gutierrez throughout the trial.”
The jury, which consisted of five men and three women, deliberated for nearly five hours before reaching its decision.
“This case transcends football. This case matters,” plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said during Wednesday’s closing arguments. “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.”
The league also claimed that it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs stated that it only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
DirecTV provided “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 through 2022. The NFL signed a seven-year deal with Google’s YouTube TV which began in the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco, California, but it was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight other states, reinstated the case.
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