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Jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case and awards $4.7 billion in damages originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury in U.S. District Court ruled Thursday the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service and has awarded nearly $4.7 billion in damages.
The jury ordered the league to pay $4 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.
The jury 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 NFL was expected to appeal to the 9th Circuit and then possibly the Supreme Court.
The league maintained it has the right to sell “Sunday Ticket” under its antitrust exemption for broadcasting. The plaintiffs say that only covers over-the-air broadcasts and not pay TV.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution…
Source link : https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jury-rules-nfl-violated-antitrust-213010898.html
Author : NBC Sports Chicago
Publish date : 2024-06-27 21:30:10
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