NFL responds after suffering big loss in ‘Sunday Ticket’ case

Apr 29, 2021; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announces the final pick of the 2021 NFL Draft for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at First Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL responded Thursday after being hit with a significant penalty in a class-action lawsuit over their “NFL Sunday Ticket” package.

The league was facing a class-action suit alleging monopolistic practices over its annual package, which had previously been offered exclusively through DirecTV and has since switched to YouTube TV. On Thursday, a jury ruled against the NFL, and a federal judge ordered the league to pay over $4 billion in damages to fans and bars.

The NFL indicated Thursday that it plans to appeal the verdict and firmly stands by its television distribution strategy.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “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 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.”

The NFL has previously generated a ton of revenue through its “Sunday Ticket” package, but has always stuck with exclusivity deals and never offered a single-team option . The league will continue to argue that its broadcast model is sound, but it may face an uphill fight in further court cases.

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