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The NFL may have to change its Sunday Ticket soon after losing a massive lawsuit against multiple fans. On Thursday, the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California ruled that the league would have to pay $4.7 billion to residential subscribers of the service, as well as an additional $96 million to commercial ones.
A statement from the league expressed disappointment in the verdict and continued to defend the current broadcasting setup.
“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.
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"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
Many fans expressed hope for cheaper football:
"Holy crap, are we on our way to some affordable football in the future??" ... a fan commented.
More of it can be seen below:
"Great Job Goodell," one said.
"Does this mean single-team packages are coming?" another asked.
"W judge," a fan said.
History of NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit
The NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by the Mucky Duck, a sports bar in San Francisco. However, it was dismissed in 2017 by a federal judge in Los Angeles.
However, the lawsuit was revived on appeal in 2019. The lower court attempted to challenge this, but was rebuffed the next year.
After over two years of dormancy, in 2023, a lower court declared that Sunday Ticket subscribers could file a class-action lawsuit against the NFL regarding their situation. A district judge affirmed this decision last January.
Trial began on June 6 and lasted three weeks, upon which the affirmative verdict ordering payment was delivered. Bill Carmody, the legal representative for the plaintiffs, said that the case was amount more than enjoyment of football:
"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."
Post-trial motions will be heard on July 31, with one of them looking to set the verdict aside. Unless that occurs, the NFL will appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court.
