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June 27, 2024
A Los Angeles district court jury June 27 ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion in damages for colluding with DirecTV, CBS and Fox to overcharge consumers for the long-running DirecTV “Sunday Ticket” package of football games.
The near 10-year-old civil case, first filed in 2015, alleged that the NFL and partner media companies had colluded to artificially drive up the price to DirecTV subscribers for exclusive access to select Sunday games from 2011 to 2022.
YouTube TV acquired away from DirecTV exclusive access to “Sunday Ticket” in 2023, paying the NFL $2 billion annually through 2030. The online TV service is charging subscribers $359 for access this year.
Plaintiff lawyers had sought $7 billion in damages, an amount that could have tripled to $21 billion with antitrust cases. The NFL’s argument remained that “Sunday Ticket” was a consumer option, and that the league is the lone entity to offer free local access to all home games via over-the-air digital antenna.
The NFL, in a statement, said it was disappointed with the jury’s verdict.
“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,” the NFL said, adding it would appeal the decision.
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