LOS ANGELES — A jury in U.S. District Courtroom dominated Thursday that the NFL violated antitrust legal guidelines in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon video games on a premium subscription service and has awarded greater than $4.7 billion in damages.
The jury ordered the league to pay $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the industrial class.
The NFL mentioned in an announcement that it’ll attraction the decision.
“We’re upset with the jury’s verdict at the moment within the NFL Sunday Ticket class motion lawsuit. We proceed to imagine that our media distribution technique, which options all NFL video games broadcast on free over-the-air tv within the markets of the taking part groups and nationwide distribution of our hottest video games, supplemented by many further selections together with RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far probably the most fan pleasant distribution mannequin in all of sports activities and leisure,” the league mentioned.
“We will definitely contest this choice as we imagine that the category motion claims on this case are baseless and with out advantage. We thank the jury for his or her time and repair and for the steering and oversight from Choose [Philip] Gutierrez all through the trial.”
Put up-trial motions will likely be heard July 31, together with one to put aside the decision. If the decision is not put aside, the NFL will attraction to the Ninth Circuit Courtroom.
The lawsuit lined 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 companies who paid for the bundle of out-of-market video games from the 2011 via 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust legal guidelines by promoting its bundle of Sunday video games at an inflated value. The subscribers additionally say the league restricted competitors by providing “Sunday Ticket” solely on a satellite tv for pc supplier.
The jury of 5 males and three ladies deliberated for practically 5 hours earlier than reaching a choice.
“This case transcends soccer. This case issues,” plaintiffs lawyer Invoice Carmody mentioned throughout Wednesday’s closing arguments. “It is about justice. It is about telling the 32 staff homeowners who collectively personal all the massive TV rights, the most well-liked content material within the historical past of TV — that is what they’ve. It is about telling them that even you can’t ignore the antitrust legal guidelines. Even you can’t collude to overcharge customers. Even you possibly can’t conceal the reality and assume you are going to get away with it.”
The league maintained it has the precise to promote “Sunday Ticket” beneath its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs say that covers solely over-the-air broadcasts and never pay TV.
DirecTV had “Sunday Ticket” from its inception in 1994 via 2022. The league signed a seven-year cope with Google’s YouTube TV that started with the 2023 season.
The lawsuit was initially filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck sports activities bar in San Francisco however was dismissed in 2017. Two years later, the ninth U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and eight different states, reinstated the case. Gutierrez dominated final yr that the case may proceed as a category motion.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and The Related Press contributed to this report.