NFL Ordered by Jury to Pay $4.7 Billion in Damages In 'Sunday Ticket' Trial

This story originally ran on June, 25, 2024

A Los Angeles jury ruled against the NFL on Thursday in the Sunday Ticket trial, potentially costing the league billions. 

As reported by Dimers on Tuesday, June 25, the NFL was in the midst of a civil suit over the cost of their NFL Sunday Ticket streaming package.

The court has mandated the NFL to pay $96 million to bars claiming they were overcharged for Sunday Ticket, and $4.7 billion to fans who purchased the satellite-only streaming package. Under federal antitrust law, these damages are tripled, pushing the total to over $14 billion.

As expected, the NFL announced it would "certainly" appeal the decision, dismissing the lawsuit as "baseless and without merit." 

Depending on the result of the appeal, the case might eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Original story below:

The future of NFL Sunday Ticket could be determined by an eight-person jury this week in the wake of a class-action lawsuit nearly ten years in the making.

Alleging the NFL broke antirust laws by deliberately selling the broadcast rights to out-of-market Sunday games (originally airing on CBS and Fox) and charging customers an unfair price. Additionally, the Sunday Ticket package which was originally only available via satellite provider further made the package unobtainable.

In their defense, the NFL asserts its legal entitlement to distribute Sunday Ticket based on its broadcasting antitrust exemption. 

RELATED: Our Early 2024 NFL Season Preview

The Numbers Behind the Suit

Per AP, this lawsuit was once raised in 2015 by San Francisco sports bar, the Mucky Duck, before being dismissed two years later in 2017. Then, in 2019, the case was reinstated and as last year was allowed to move forward as a class action suit.

• The current trial began on June 6, 2024
• Over 2.4 million individual subscribers and nearly 50,000 businesses are involved in the class-action
• The plaintiffs are seeking $7 billion in damages, which could get as high as $21 billion due to federal antitrust stipulations
• Subscribers from June 17, 2011 through February 7, 2023 are included

What's next for the NFL?

The jury deliberations set to begin Wednesday will prove pivotal to the future of NFL Sunday Ticket after it's move to YouTube TV, and other broadcast subscription services for major sports leagues.

The general consensus is that the losing side, whoever it may be, is expected to appeal the ruling, meaning it could be quite some time before any potential resolution is reached.

RELATED: 2024 NFL Super Bowl Futures Predictions

Impact on Sports Betting

It remains to be seen how this affects the world of sports betting, but it could have some interesting consequences. For example, last NFL season, FanDuel Sportsbook offered a discounted membership to NFL Sunday Ticket via a sportsbook sign-up promo, as revealed by Dimers last year.

Dimers Pro and the NFL

Fortunately for us, this will have no ramifications on our subscription service, Dimers Pro, as we don't offer broadcast options - just the best-in-class sports betting predictions, best bets and props around.

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