In Re National Football Leagues Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation

On June 27, 2024, the Los Angeles jury found the NFL liable for $4,610,331,671.74 in damages to the residential class (home subscribers) and $96,928,272.90 in damages to the commercial class (business subscribers) in the present antitrust lawsuit.

Case Background

The present class action was initiated on December 10, 2015, to fight the antitrust practice and monopoly of the NFL over football telecasts in the United States. Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez presided over this case. [Case number: 2:15ml2668]

Cause

Plaintiffs Ninth Inning Inc. operating as The Mucky Duck, 1465 Third Avenue Restaurant Corp. doing business as Gael Pub, along with Robert Gary Lippincott, Jr., and Jonathan Frantz, through their legal representatives, asserted that the 32 professional football teams of the National Football League (NFL), in collaboration with DirecTV and others, conspired to eliminate competition in the broadcasting and sale of live professional football games, specifically DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket service. Instead of competing in the lucrative football broadcasting market, they allegedly formed an agreement to restrict supply and increase prices. The Plaintiffs initiated this legal action both individually and as a class action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(2) and (b)(3), representing two classes: 1. The "Commercial Class," comprising all DirecTV commercial subscribers who purchased NFL Sunday Ticket between June 17, 2011, and the present, excluding Defendants and related entities, judicial officers, their families, and jurors. 2. The "Residential Class," consists of all DirecTV residential subscribers who purchased NFL Sunday Ticket during the same period, excluding similar exclusions as the Commercial Class. Plaintiffs Mucky Duck and Gael Pub represented the Commercial Class, while Lippincott and Frantz represented the Residential Class. During the relevant period, DirecTV distributed its Sunday Ticket service to members of the Classes nationwide. Defendants set prices for the service above competitive levels. The lawsuit involved 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses across the United States who subscribed to DirecTV's out-of-market game package from 2011 to 2022. Allegations included violations of antitrust laws, asserting that the NFL unlawfully monopolized the Sunday games market by selling them at inflated prices and limiting competition to satellite providers.

Injury