NFL ordered to pay $4.7 billion in 'Sunday Ticket' antitrust case

The NFL has been ordered to pay $4.7 billion for violating antitrust laws in the 'Sunday Ticket' case.

Josh Sanchez | Jun 28, 2024

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A U.S. District Court Jury has ruled that the NFL violated antitrust laws in the Sunday Ticket case and must pay $4.7 billion in damages.

The league violated the antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games. The lawsuit claims the NFL broke the laws by selling the Sunday Ticket package at an inflated price and restricted competition by only offering the service to a satellite provider, DirecTV.

The NFL says it will appeal the decision.

"We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. 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 league said in a statement, via ESPN.com.

"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 [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial."

Sunday Ticket was available on DirecTV from 1994 through 2022, before the league signed a seven-year deal with YouTube TV beginning in the 2023 season.

If the verdict is upheld, the damages could cost each NFL team approximately $450 million.

The post-trial motions will be heard on July 31. If the verdict is not set aside, the NFL plans to appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court.

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