A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday found the NFL responsible for the lawsuit involving the Sunday Ticket and awarded defendants more than$ 4 billion in damage. The NFL has the option of bringing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, who has the authority to rule on damage awards. The decision could compel significant changes to the club’s broadcasting arrangements, which last year accounted for 93 of the year’s 100 most- watched Television broadcasts in the U. S.
More than 2.4 million home users and more than 48, 000 restaurants, bars, and other industrial establishments that purchased Sunday Ticket are the targets of the group activity. The residential school received$ 4.7 billion, according to columnist and trial observer Meghann Cuniff, while the business class received another$ 96 million. The plaintiffs contend that the NFL teams ‘ combined channels through the Sunday Ticket, which is offered through YouTube TV for$ 349 per year ( or less with savings ), were against antitrust laws.

The NFL disputed the getting. ” We are disappointed with the judge’s ruling now in the NFL Sunday Ticket class activity lawsuit”, the group said in a speech. We will undoubtedly challenge this decision because we think the group action claims in this case are unsupported and unsupported. We thank the jurors for their time, effort, and guidance from Judge Gutierrez throughout the test.
NFL teams give native fans the chance to see games on Screen for free, in contrast to teams in other key professional leagues. But, out- of- area fans need to buy the Sunday Ticket. Some NFL team may strike deals to broadcast sports in out-of-town businesses for free or at least for less than the Sunday Ticket price if they compete with one another for broadcasting offers.
The NFL raised several counterarguments, but none persuaded the jurors. One contention was made regarding the Sports Broadcasting Act ( SBA ), which exempts professional football, basketball, baseball, and hockey leagues from antitrust scrutiny when they enter into national TV agreements for games that can be viewed live and over the air. The SBA does n’t impose any antitrust sanctions on the subscription-based Sunday Ticket, but the league argued that the Sunday Ticket is a part of a wider TV package that includes games that are free and over the air and are broadcast locally.
The NFL also warned that if teams were forced to compete for out-of-town broadcast licenses, it would reduce the number of televised games that fans could watch. Fans can watch any game on TV regardless of where they are located in the United States if their favorite team found a broadcast partner, even though the Sunday Ticket has a cost.
The NFL will need to take into account new broadcasting arrangements that feature teams competing for broadcast rights in addition to appealing. The NFL has economic incentives in place to ensure that it continues to have broadcasting dominance, even if that means finding new ways for teams to show games to out-of-town fans. The league has stated that consumers will be worse off without the Sunday Ticket.