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The NFL suffered a huge setback Thursday and was ordered to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages for violating antitrust law in a class-action suit over pricing of DirecTV’s “Sunday Ticket” packages.
A Los Angeles jury voted unanimously that the league colluded with DirecTV, along with CBS and Fox, to drive up pricing of the premium product.
The jury deliberated for roughly five hours over two days. If the verdict stands, the jury said the league owes $4.7 billion in damages to the residential class and $96 million in damages to the commercial class.
The NFL could be liable up to $14.1 billion under federal laws that triple the amount won in antitrust cases.
Said a spokesman for the NFL: “We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment. We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge Gutierrez throughout the trial.”
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV.
The trial lasted three weeks and included testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, among others.
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Said Bill Carmody, lead attorney for the plaintiff: “It’s a great verdict for consumers around America that this jury, despite the star…
Source link : https://www.yahoo.com/news/nfl-ordered-pay-4-7-204307823.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-06-27 20:43:07
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