LA judge tosses $4.8 billion verdict vs. NFL over Sunday Ticket

FILE – The NFL logo is displayed on the field at the Bank of American Stadium, Nov. 4, 2018, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge in downtown Los Angeles Thursday overturned a nearly $4.8 billion verdict against the National Football League in a lawsuit contending the NFL illegally conspired to drive up pricing of its Sunday Ticket game package.

In a 16-page ruling, US District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez threw out the testimony from two plaintiffs’ experts during the trial and said the jury’s determination of the financial damages verdict was “irrational.”

The judge said the jury’s damages verdict was not based on “evidence of reasonable inferences,” but “instead were more akin to `guesswork or speculation.”’

“The court thus finds that jury’s damages verdict is clearly not supported by the evidence and must be vacated,” Gutierrez wrote.

The NFL quickly issued a statement following the ruling, thanking Gutierrez for his “time and attention to this case.”

“We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” according to the league. “We believe that the NFL’s media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over- the-air television.”

The ruling ironically came on the day the NFL preseason officially began with a Hall of Fame game between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans.

The federal civil jury on June 27 reached its verdict in favor of plaintiffs, awarding damages to football fans and sports bars after determining the NFL violated antitrust law. In the lawsuit dealing with how the league distributes its package of out-of-market games, the NFL was ordered to pay $4.7 billion to fans who alleged they were overcharged for DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket and $96 million to sports bars whose owners paid for the streaming package.

Jurors determined that the league and its 32 teams colluded with DirecTV, along with CBS and Fox, to drive up pricing of the game package. The panel deliberated for about five hours over two days.

Subscribers to the NFL’s game package argued that the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of out-of-market games airing on CBS and Fox at what plaintiffs contend was an inflated price. Lawyers for the subscribers also argued the league restricted competition by offering Sunday
Ticket only on a satellite provider.

The NFL maintained it has the right to sell Sunday Ticket under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. But the plaintiffs argued that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.

Among those who testified during the three-week trial were NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports bar in San Francisco. On June 30, 2017, a district judge in Los Angeles dismissed the suit after ruling for the NFL. Two years later, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case. Gutierrez ruled in February 2023 that the case could proceed as a class action. In January, Gutierrez rejected a final attempt by the NFL to dismiss the case.

The class action applied to more than 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses, mostly bars and restaurants, that purchased NFL Sunday Ticket from June 17, 2011, to Feb. 7, 2023.

Google’s YouTube TV became the Sunday Ticket provider last season. (CNS)