Los Angeles — A federal judge has nullified a massive $4.7 billion jury verdict against the NFL, connected to the league’s exclusive Sunday Ticket service. The judge declared that the evidence did not support the damages previously awarded by the jury to subscribers.
The ruling by Judge Philip Gutierrez of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California intensely scrutinized the foundation of the June decision. The initial verdict came after it was concluded that the NFL, alongside DirecTV and network affiliates, had collaborated illegitimately to inflate the price of the Sunday Ticket subscription. This service is particularly popular as it provides access to out-of-market NFL games on Sundays throughout the regular season.
The NFL expressed relief and affirmation in a post-ruling statement, emphasizing its commitment to a distribution model that supposedly offers fans broad access to games, including free local broadcasts. The league also signaled its enthusiasm for the upcoming 2024 NFL season, signaling a clear desire to move past the litigation that commenced with the 2015 class-action lawsuit.
That lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 2.4 million residential users and over 48,000 commercial establishments like bars and restaurants that had subscribed to Sunday Ticket through DirecTV.
For decades, DirecTV held exclusive rights to distribute the Sunday Ticket, beginning in 1994 until the end of the 2023-24 NFL season. This monopoly ended when Google took over the distribution rights, securing a seven-year contract to offer Sunday Ticket through YouTube. This current model allows fans to purchase access to all out-of-market Sunday games aired on CBS and Fox.
The competitive environment for these rights has heated up recently. During the trial, it was disclosed that Disney’s ESPN had positioned a bid to acquire Sunday Ticket from the NFL, starting in the 2023-24 season, with a proposed pricing model significantly lower than YouTube’s. ESPN suggested selling the package for $70 per season for watching a single team’s out-of-market games. In contrast, YouTube currently offers Sunday Ticket at $349 per season in a bundled package and $449 as a standalone service.
This ruling underscores the complex legal and economic battleground that surrounds sports broadcasting rights, an issue that continues to impact how fans engage with their favorite sports outside of their local viewing areas.
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