NFL Hit With $4.7 Billion Judgement for Antitrust Violations

A jury has ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion in damages (which could triple to $14.39 billion) after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws with its "Sunday Ticket" package.

The Details:

• The jury found that the NFL violated antitrust laws by exclusively selling "Sunday Ticket" through DirecTV at inflated prices, limiting the subscriber base and maintaining high broadcast rights revenue.
• Prices for the package vary, but can cost up to $389 for the season on YouTube TV and up to $489 for YouTube Primetime channels.
• The lawsuit impacted over 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses, including bars and restaurants, which were paying between $6,000 and $78,000 annually for the package.
• The NFL plans to appeal, calling the claims "baseless and without merit."
• The original lawsuit was filed in 2015 by a San Francisco sports bar, but dismissed in 2017, before being reinstated by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2019.

"Commercial buyers of the NFL’s 'Sunday Ticket' package (think: bars and restaurants) have to pay between $6,000 and $78,000 annually for the service, depending on the size of the venue. And bar owners have long talked about how the package of games makes it difficult for small businesses to turn a profit.” - Joe Pompliano, business writer