Feb 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. National Football League (NFL) must face a $6 billion class action alleging it unlawfully limited televised games and drove up the cost of its “Sunday Ticket” package, a U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday.
Sunday Ticket lets subscribers watch local and out-of-market games on Sunday, while football fans otherwise in any given market can only see a limited number of games.
The case will be divided into two sets of plaintiffs classes – individual Sunday Ticket residential subscribers and commercial establishments, such as hotels and bars.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez in Los Angeles certified the case as a class action against the NFL and its teams, a key step for plaintiffs’ lawyers in cases that can involve many potential individual claims.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys are seeking as much as $6 billion in damages for individuals and commercial entities that purchased Sunday Ticket from DirecTV since 2011, according to an expert’s report the plaintiffs submitted to the court,
View 2 more stories
Satellite provider DirecTV has the rights until the end of the 2022 to 2023 season to Sunday Ticket.
Another expert’s report from the plaintiffs recorded at least 2.4 million members in the residential class. The commercial class has about 48,000 members.
A spokesperson for the NFL on Wednesday said: “We are reviewing the judge’s order. We continue to believe that the plaintiffs’ claims have no merit and will vigorously defend our position in this matter.”
Lawyers for the NFL and its teams have denied liability and argued the plaintiffs’ lawyers failed to meet certain legal requirements to form classes.
The NFL’s attorneys said any injunction changing the distribution of games would be moot since the league’s deal with DirecTV is ending at the conclusion of the 2022 to 2023 football season.
Google-owned YouTube (GOOGL.O) in December signed a multi-year deal for exclusive streaming of Sunday Ticket package games. Google did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The judge’s ruling said despite the “new home for Sunday Ticket, the entire class is likely to continue to be subjected to defendants’ anticompetitive restraints on telecasts”.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
A trial is set to begin in February 2024.
Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by Leigh Jones, Josie Kao, Peter Rutherford
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The NFL could be moving a step closer to doing away with the days of the “chain gang” measuring first downs, according to multiple reports.
INDIANAPOLIS — The issue of whether Cooper DeJean is a cornerback or a safety at the next level might not have a black-and-white solution. The N
Join Fox News for access to this content Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account - free of charge. Please enter a val
The interior defensive linemen kicked off the televised coverage of the 2024 NFL Combine, and as anticipated, the prospects projected to be the top of this c