A U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles, California has order the National Football League (NFL) to pay almost $4.8 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday games on a premium subscription service.
For the residential class, the jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages and $96 million in damages to the commercial class. Under federal antitrust laws, damages can be tripled so the NFL could end up liable for $14.39 billion.
There were 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games that the lawsuit covered.
The suit claimed that the NFL broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. Subscribers also stated that the league restricted competition by offering "Sunday Ticket" only on a satellite provider.
"Sunday Ticket" was featured on DirecTV from the first season it was offered in 1994 through the 2022 season. The NFL then signed a 7-year deal with Google's YouTube TV starting with the 2023 season.
By - SC
