Massive NFL Lawsuit Could Dramatically Change How Games Are Viewed
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - APRIL 27: Fans react during round six of the 2024 NFL draft at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza on April 27, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. The NFL could be forced to change the way how games are viewed if the league loses a massive class-action lawsuit.
The NFL is being hit with a class-action lawsuit by subscribers of "Sunday Ticket" who have set up a complaint that the league knowingly charged inflated prices for the service. The initial lawsuit was filed by Mucky Duck in 2015, a sports bar in San Francisco.
According to details of the lawsuit from Yahoo Sports, "The class-action lawsuit, which represents nearly 2.5 million customers, including individuals and bar owners, argues that the NFL violated antitrust laws restricting competition in an effort to protect its lucrative deals with Fox and CBS for Sunday afternoon games. It seeks $7.1 billion in damages which could be tripled to over $21 billion."
The biggest complaint in the lawsuit is the way that "Sunday Ticket" offered its premium package to consumers. Other companies like ESPN attempted to offer a more affordable option such as $70 total for the service, which could have targeted a single team in its price. However, the NFL kept the higher price so more subscribers would not interfere with ratings for local channels like Fox and CBS carrying games.
"AppleTV, for example, proposed making the Sunday Ticket part of its offerings at no additional charge. And according to CourthouseNews.com, an email presented into evidence showed ESPN wanted to charge just $70 for the entire season and offer the option of buying the games of just one team," via Yahoo Sports.
The NFL attempted to have the lawsuit thrown out in January, but U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled the case could move forward as a class-action lawsuit.
Roger Goodell arrived to testify in the matter on Monday, and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is also supposed to appear to speak on the matter. The case officially got underway on June 6 in Los Angeles, California.
Apart from the potential massive loss of $21 billion that the NFL would have to pay to the millions of customers who purchased the "Sunday Ticket" package, this could completely change how consumers view games for the foreseeable future. Fox and CBS would likely not have any monopoly on localized games, and rival companies might be able to carry the "Sunday Ticket" at a much lower price.
Apple attempted to purchase the rights to Sunday Ticket and had already indicated it would have targeted single-team packages, but the rights were sold from DirectTV to YouTube TV in 2023.
There is no telling where the "Sunday Ticket" will end up if the NFL loses this case. It could be that many other streaming services will want to pick up singular teams or offer different packages to get in on the money to be made from hardcore fans wanting to watch their team in out-of-market situations.
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