The NFL is currently the defendant in a class-action lawsuit over a product that almost every NFL fan knows of, some NFL fans have purchased, yet not many fans know what’s going on and why they need to pay attention to this.
The NFL is being sued in a class action lawsuit where the plaintiffs are claiming the NFL created Sunday Ticket and priced it so high that NFL fans would either spend their money on Sunday Ticket or settle for whatever NFL game was on their local CBS or FOX affiliate on Sundays. This lawsuit was filed in 2015, got thrown out once, resurrected and the NFL did everything they could, as they normally do, to try and avoid having this case make it to court. They ultimately weren’t able to do so and the trial started last month. People who are members of this class action lawsuit are DIRECTV subscribers who purchased NFL Sunday Ticket at any time between June 17, 2011 and February 7, 2023.
The plaintiffs claim that there were other options for the NFL to take, specifically, the college football television arrangement, where there are games on multiple channels all at once.
So, if the first window of NFL games is nine games, all nine games would be shown on TV on various channels for no additional fee to your normal cable/streaming package that you already pay for. The CBS and FOX games would still be the local games as it has been, but the displaced or zealous NFL fan could watch their team or other games on a different cable channel(s).
Mike Florio from ProFootballTalk has been all over this case recently, for all of his coverage, click here. I highly recommend reading his coverage for all of the details as Mike practiced law for nearly two decades and does a phenomenal job of breaking down what’s going on and making it easy to understand.
The jury in California who heard the case ruled that the NFL is responsible for paying roughly $4.7 billion in damages that Sunday Ticket caused due to being an antitrust violation and price gouging NFL fans. Judge Gutierrez, the judge who’s been presiding over the case has the opportunity on July 31 at the post-trial motion to throw out the case entirely, which would mean the NFL wouldn’t be responsible for a single penny, or essentially approve what the jury found which means it enters judgment and by law, the $4.7 billion in damages gets tripled to approximately $14.1 billion. It is unlikely Judge Gutierrez will make a ruling from the bench and there will be a written ruling in the upcoming weeks, but Wednesday will still be pivotal to attempt to get a read on what he’s thinking as it pertains to this lawsuit.
Whoever loses will have the ability to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit where they would go in front of three judges that are randomly selected and they would attempt to prove their case to the judges. The three judges then vote and if they still don’t rule in favor of whomever is appealing, they could then appeal in front of all of the judges in the Ninth Circuit. They would again make their case in front of the entire panel. If they still don’t get the ruling overturned, they could go all the way up to the Supreme Court but the Supreme Court would have to take up the case and aren’t inclined to do so, as they get thousands of cases every year slapped on their desks. This isn’t a quick process and it could take a couple of years for this process to play out.
Unfortunately, if you wanted Sunday Ticket and didn’t purchase it, you aren’t represented in this case, and there likely wouldn’t be a case in the future for you because you likely wouldn’t be able to prove damages.
If Judge Gutierrez decides to throw the case out, that would mean the NFL is responsible for paying you nothing. Even though a jury found the NFL to violate antitrust laws and the NFL deliberately price gouged you so you would either pay a larger fee to watch their games and found the NFL accountable for $4.7 billion tripled to $14.1 billion if/when entered into judgment, the judge can throw it out.
Surely, whoever is ultimately on the losing side will appeal and with so much money on the line, the losing side will continue to appeal this as far as they can to try and win.
Another caveat to this complicated case is if the NFL does lose, the owners might make the players pay for some of the $14.1 billion for a product the players had zero involvement in creating, pricing, and carrying out for three decades.
So this fall when you’re making plans to saddle up in front of the TV to watch your favorite NFL team play, remember this. The NFL took advantage of you and millions of others, and they still might win.
