A Los Angeles jury agreed Thursday that the NFL violated antitrust laws by offering Sunday afternoon games via a premium subscription service, awarding plaintiffs hefty damages of about $4.7 billion in a years-old class action suit.
The NFL said it plans to contest the decision. The lawsuit first filed in 2015 covers 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses like bars and restaurants who paid for out-of-market games from the 2011 to 2022 NFL seasons on DirecTV.
It alleged that the league broke antitrust laws by selling the Sunday game package at an inflated price, and by offering the sought after Sunday Ticket games only on a satellite provider.
In 2023, the NFL kicked off a seven-year, $14 billion deal with YouTube TV, which moved Sunday Ticket to streaming after a 29-year run on DirecTV, which had launched the package.
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