A federal appeals court has upheld a jury’s determination that the NFL breached antitrust laws through its Sunday Ticket broadcasting package, while ordering a fresh trial to determine the damages owed by the league.
In its ruling, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a California district court judge’s decision to dismiss a $4.7 billion verdict against the NFL, which was initially delivered following a 2024 trial.
NFL Sunday Ticket is the exclusive broadcast package for fans who want to watch their teams play games outside their local television markets.
Subscribers argued that the package was deliberately priced too high to discourage wider subscriptions while safeguarding the distribution fees paid by television networks to broadcast games in local markets.
NFL pushed back against antitrust damages ruling
A federal jury in Los Angeles awarded residential subscribers $4.6 billion in damages following the 2024 trial, while commercial customers, including bars and restaurants, were granted a further $96.9 million.
The decision was later overturned by US District Judge Philip Gutierrez in 2024, who dismissed the testimony of two key witnesses and ruled that the evidence presented did not adequately substantiate the damages awarded.
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The NFL had described the damages figure as “nonsensical” and maintained that subscribers failed to present credible evidence demonstrating that the league’s Sunday Ticket distribution arrangements had caused them any actual harm.
NFL verdict faces fresh legal scrutiny
In its ruling issued Friday, the appeals court found that the trial judge had erred in dismissing the plaintiffs’ expert testimony. The panel emphasized that a jury verdict “must stand unless it is clearly not supported by the evidence,” explaining the grounds for overturning such decisions.
However, the appeals court also determined that the jury’s damages calculation was flawed because it was based “on its improper consideration of the evidence rather than according to the district court’s instructions.”
Background to the $4.7 billion NFL verdict
The lawsuit against the NFL and DirecTV, the league’s longtime Sunday Ticket distributor, dates back to 2015. Football fans accused the two parties of illegally controlling the market for televised NFL games through the Sunday Ticket package and charging subscribers excessive fees.
During the trial, the NFL defended its broadcasting arrangement, arguing that the model benefited fans. Commissioner Roger Goodell also testified that DirecTV, rather than the league, independently determined the subscription price.
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DirecTV, which has consistently denied any wrongdoing, did not participate in the trial after successfully securing an order requiring customer claims to be handled through confidential arbitration.
(With inputs from Reuters report. )