NFL ordered to pay $4,700,000,000 in damages after guilty verdict in NFL Sunday Ticket trial: Report
In a remarkable verdict, the NFL was ordered by a jury to pay $4.7 billion in damages to fans after a decision was reached in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. In addition to that, they have been asked to give $96 million to bars who had claimed they were overcharged. Front Office Sports reported,
"The league has been ordered to pay $96 million to bars who said they were overcharged for Sunday Ticket, and $4.7 billion to fans who paid for the streaming package, according to legal reporter Meghann Cuniff. Under federal antitrust law, those damages are tripled, bringing the total to more than $14 billion."
NFL responds with its own statement after losing Sunday Ticket case
The NFL responded in a statement that it plans to appeal the ruling, saying it was disappointed with the decision. It read,
"We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit."
The lawsuit was originally brought by San Francisco bar The Mucky Duck, since joined by other bars and fans, that the league was violating anti-trust provisions by not giving single-team tickets for Sunday and also overcharging their patrons through a lack of competition.
But the NFL disagreed, saying that they believe their distribution strategy is the fairest for the fans and it gives enough choice to those who want to watch it. They continued,
"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 statement concluded that they believe the case is baseless and while reserving the right to contest it, they thanked the jury and the presiding judge. They wrote,
"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge Gutierrez throughout the trial."
The trial and appeal process could end up going to the Supreme Court if no other resolution is found. For now, though, both the immediate monetary fallout from this case and the lasting reputational damage are severe for the NFL.