A federal judge has "overturned the jury verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit," according to Ryan Young of YAHOO SPORTS. A jury ruled last month that the league had "violated antitrust laws by selling its 'Sunday Ticket' package only on DirectTV at an inflated price," and found the NFL liable for more than $4.7B in damages . Under federal antitrust laws, damages can be tripled -- which could have resulted in the NFL "being liable for more than" $14.1B. Now, though, that ruling has been "overturned in what is a huge win for the league." The verdict had been "in doubt in recent days." U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, who oversaw the case, on Wednesday said that the jury did " not follow his instructions in determining damages " ( YAHOO SPORTS, 8/1 ).
Gutierrez "ruled Thursday that the testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies and should have been excluded" according to Joe Reedy of the Associated Press. “Without the testimonies of Dr. (Daniel) Rascher and Dr. (John) Zona, no reasonable jury could have found class-wide injury or damages,” Gutierrez wrote at the end of his 16-page ruling." The plaintiffs are likely to appeal to the 9th Circuit ( AP, 8/1 ).
Following the judge ruling in the NFL's favor, the league released the following statement: “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.”
