Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, & Robert Kraft set to testify in $6,100,000,000 NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit: Report
As the NFL is dragged into the court for a lawsuit, the case is set to have high-profile witnesses, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Earlier this year, a California-based court dismissed the league’s claims motion for a summary judgment and moved ahead with the lawsuit in the trial phase. A class action suit involving 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses as the plaintiffs against the NFL. They seek $6.1 billion in damages.
As per the court documents, the plaintiffs contend:
“The NFL's business deal for distributing the package has artificially inflated its price, in violation of U.S. antitrust law.”
The NFL has denied all the allegations in the suit; however, as the trial moves forward, high-profile witnesses are set to appear. As per the expected witness list given by the lawyers to U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, apart from the NFL head, the owners of the Cowboys and Patriots will also make an appearance.
However, it's not clear whether these witnesses will appear live or through prerecorded video. The next date set for the Sunday Ticket lawsuit is June 5.
What is the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit issue?
The entire controversy stems from the NFL's decision in 2022 to sell the rights to stream Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV until 2030. Previously, Sunday Ticket games were available on DirecTV.
As per the claimants, including bars, hotels and restaurants, this leads to NFL curbing competition for the sale of game telecasts. However, the issue has been going on for more than half a decade. First antitrust proceedings were brought against the NFL in the same matter in 2018, though it was dismissed.
The appeals court then reinstated the case in 2019, and last year this anti-trust proceeding gained a class action certification. Now the NFL has to stand trial or reach an out-of-court settlement with almost 3 million different parties in the multibillion dollar lawsuit.