The NFL is now defending division television practices in a trial that is currently taking place in a Los Angeles federal district court, to the surprise of some.
Ideas from the court suggest that the team’s bargain is working out.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has repeatedly expressed doubt about the defendants ‘ event, according to journalists who were present at the trial. He had the legal authority to grant a movement for assessment. A judge may determine that no reasonable jury had come to a different conclusion before the situation is presented to the jury.
Per the The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint, Gutierrez told the defendants ‘ counsel they “really have everything” and are saddled by a” full disengage” between their claims and what has been expressed during the test. Gutierrez, according to Joe Reedy of the Associated Press, criticized the plaintiffs ‘ attempt to connect the Dallas Cowboys ‘ 1990s licensing dispensation with TV broadcast rights.

The main competitive issue that In Re: NFL’s” Sunday Ticket” Antitrust Litigation addresses is whether specific NFL teams can consent to grant licenses to their broadcasts without engaging in legal fights is more thoroughly explained in Sportico’s test preview. NFL team are competing companies. Competition is typically required by monopolistic laws.
The Chicago Bears and the 31 different groups agree to share their television rights through the Sunday Ticket rather than a world where, for example, the Chicago Bears grant their television rights to a TV stop in San Diego and allow Bears fans living there to see games without incurring costs or at least paying less than they do for the Sunday Ticket. The service is available through YouTube TV for$ 349/year ( discounts, promotions and add- ons can lower that price ).
Local supporters of NBA, NHL, and MLB team who typically have to pay to watch their team ‘ game on TV have a better chance of watching their favorite NFL team without paying for cable or a paid satellite service because of that pool. However, out-of-town NFL fans must pay.
Of course, there is n’t a legal “right” to watch an NFL game on TV for free. The NFL, like other sports leagues and entertainment companies, is a private entity. Private companies can transfer telecast and streaming content to fee-based services and set prices as per market demands. The relevant legal question is not about the NFL but NFL teams, as competing businesses, agreeing to not compete in the licensing of broadcasts.
More than 2.4 million residential subscribers and more than 48, 000 restaurants, bars, and other commercial establishments that purchased Sunday Ticket are the victims of the class action that started nine years ago. Because antitrust losses are typically tripled, potential damages could top$ 20 billion.

However, the NFL’s decision to go to trial indicates that it has high faith in its ability to prevail. The NFL rarely goes to trial. If the league is unable to get a case dismissed, it has the financial wherewithal to negotiate settlements. This was made famous by the NFL’s concussion litigation, which resulted in a$ 1 billion settlement that will be distributed over a 65-year period.
The league might have been concerned about NFL officials and owners ‘ statements and answering questions made by skilled litigators who wanted to agitate and stifle them. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has testified, he faced questions about his team’s litigation against the NFL in the 1990s involving sponsorship contracts.
It’s revealing the NFL did n’t settle despite these risks. The league presumably believes that its legal arguments are persuasive enough.
The NFL has argued the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, a law that exempts professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey leagues from antitrust scrutiny when they negotiate a national TV contract with a network that provides” sponsored telecasting” ( meaning free and over- the- air ) of games, applies. Although the Sunday Ticket, as a paid service, is n’t itself protected by the SBA, it’s part of a larger TV arrangement that includes fans watching over- the- air NFL home games for free.
The NFL has also emphasized that fans can watch any game with the Sunday Ticket. Some fans might live in areas where games would not be broadcast if out-of-town fans had to rely on individual team arrangements to do so.
In the example above, the San Diego resident fan hopes the Bears will find it financially worthwhile to host Bears games there. They also might find a willing partner. What has been a wildly popular product among fans has been a highly popular product: Last year, the NFL received 93 of the year’s 100 most watched TV broadcasts in the United States. Even the league’s harshest critics would have to acknowledge that the league has no peer in broadcasts.
The trial is scheduled to wrap up in the middle of the week. It remains to be seen how jurors will decide, assuming Gutierrez sends the case to the jury. The NFL is likely confident that ending a deal to end the case will turn out to be the best course of action.