What 'Sunday Ticket' Lawsuit Means for Fans, NFL

A U.S. District Court jury recently ruled the NFL will have to pay nearly $5 billion after violating anti-trust laws in Sunday Ticket lawsuit.

Oct. 19, 2013; El Segundo, CA, USA; Red Zone host Andrew Siciliano on the set of DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket's RED ZONE Channel at DIRECTV's Los Angeles Broadcast Center in El Segundo, CA. For a behind the scenes look at DIRECTV's innovative platform created to watch NFL action every Sunday. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL recently lost a lawsuit involving its famous Sunday Ticket package, ultimately being ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages.

A jury declared that the NFL had violated anti-trust laws by inflating Sunday Ticket prices and limiting access to the service to merely a satellite provider.

Our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Attorney Jonathan Schopp discussed the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit in a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"This is something that has gone on a long time," Schopp said. "It just went to a jury verdict, very interesting. What the plaintiffs are saying in this, is: 'Look, the NFL worked together with its broadcast partners to inflate the price of Sunday Ticket.' That is basically the simple argument the plaintiffs have made. The NFL, on the other hand, says: 'Hey, Sunday Ticket is expensive because it is a premium product. This is a case about choice, this is a valuable premium product. You think about all the choices available; we want as many people watching the free broadcast as they can, and this is a premium product.'

" ... Now, it is interesting the way we put it into context of what is going on right now because we are seeing games taken away from Sunday Ticket. They are being put on Amazon, they are being put on Netflix, they are being taken off of that ticket. Yet the price of the ticket ... is staying level or going up. For those of us that have already renewed, we know it is not like the thing all of a sudden has dropped by proportionately how many games have been taken off that ticket. So, this is a jury verdict, and there will be, I am sure, a set of appeals. There will most likely ultimately be a settlement at some point because that is how most -- even when tried to a jury verdict -- are resolved. This is going to get the attention of the NFL owners. This is not a small damages award. More than $4.7 billion is a lot of money."

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