A California federal jury has ordered the (NFL) to pay over $4.7 billion in class-action damages for allegedly overcharging subscribers for its "Sunday Ticket" broadcasts.
The damages could be tripled to $14 billion under the U.S. antitrust laws as the NFL lost a jury trial over anticompetitive features of its broadcast package, according to Bloomberg.
A jury in Los Angeles ruled on Thursday in favor of football fans who claimed the league conspired with DirecTV to raise the price of subscriptions to watch out-of-market games.
It came after the NFL made the unusual decision to fight the consumer class-action lawsuit at trial rather than negotiating a settlement.
The breakdown of the damages includes $4.6 billion awarded to residential subscribers and $96 million to commercial entities such as bars and restaurants.
The NFL expressed disappointment with the jury's decision.
It said in a statement: "We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit."
Earlier this week, the league sought a court ruling to nullify the verdict, saying that the claims lacked legal standing.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said in a statement: "We are pleased with today's result on behalf of the classes we represent."
The trial, which began on June 5, concludes more than ten years of litigation over the "Sunday Ticket" telecasts.
Subscribers accused the NFL of leveraging agreements with broadcast partners to maintain a monopoly over distribution, allowing AT&T-owned DirecTV, the former exclusive distributor of "Sunday Ticket," to charge inflated prices.
Currently, a residential subscription to "Sunday Ticket" costs up to $449 through its new distributor, Google's YouTube, owned by Alphabet. Neither DirecTV, nor Google were defendants in the trial.
The lawsuit alleged that the high prices were designed to limit subscriptions and protect the distribution rights fees paid by CBS and Fox to broadcast games in local markets.
The NFL has denied these allegations, arguing that "Sunday Ticket" is a premium service that enhances viewers' access to out-of-market games, which are otherwise available for free on local networks.
The case represents at least 2.4 million residential customers and 48,000 commercial subscribers who purchased "NFL Sunday Ticket" between June 2011 and February 2023, according to court records.
