Federal judge overturns verdict in NFL “Sunday Ticket” trial

A federal judge has overturned the jury verdict in the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” antitrust trial.

Judge Philip Gutierrez has overturned the $4.7b judgment reached by a jury during an antitrust case surrounding the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket” package. Daniel Kaplan first reported the news Thursday . The judge did not make an immediate ruling Wednesday following a three hour hearing, though heavily implied he’d side with the league. In his docket order overruling the jury verdict the next day, Judge Gutierrez said, “no reasonable jury could have found class wide injury or damages.”

The decision let’s the NFL off the hook for $4.7b in damages, a number that could have been tripled under federal antitrust law.

Prior to the surprise jury ruling last month, conventional wisdom held that the league was in strong position from a legal standpoint given the antitrust exemptions granted under the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. That reasoning has seemingly been backed up by Judge Gutierrez who said during Wednesday’s hearing that the jury, “didn’t follow the instructions.”

One of the NFL’s arguments during its Wednesday hearing was that Judge Gutierrez, in giving instructions to the jury, omitted the word “substantially,” which lowered the bar for a guilty verdict. Additionally, the league claimed that the jury’s foreperson was potentially biased as a current “Sunday Ticket” subscriber, since a guilty verdict could have presumably lowered the cost of the NFL’s out-of-market package.

The third and primary portion of the NFL’s defense suggested that damages in the case were calculated using “made up methodology” based on a “list price” of $294 rather than the $103 that most subscribers paid for “Sunday Ticket.” In his ruling, Judge Gutierrez backed up this reasoning, stating that two of the economic witnesses called by the plaintiffs used methodology that was in error .

In a statement released Thursday night the league said, “We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We believe that the NFL’s media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television. We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 NFL season.”

While perhaps an expected result, the expeditious ruling is welcome for the league, though it is likely the plaintiffs will appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court.

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