Jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws in 'Sunday Ticket' case EDIT: Case Thrown Out On Appeal.

[FortressX]

NFL will appeal

Jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws in 'Sunday Ticket' case

A jury ruled Thursday that the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service and has awarded more than $4.7 billion in damages.

www.espn.com

Appeal successful

Federal judge reportedly overturns jury verdict in NFL's Sunday Ticket lawsuit in win for league

A jury had previously found that the NFL had violated federal antitrust laws with its Sunday Ticket package.

sports.yahoo.com

Judge throws out $4.7 billion Sunday Ticket verdict

With stroke of a pen, $14.1 billion changes hands.

www.nbcsports.com

Judge Gutierrez didn't order a new trial; he threw out the case

Finding of antitrust violation was not overturned.

www.nbcsports.com

Sunday Ticket ruling is good for NFL, teams, players, etc. (but bad for consumers)

NFL dodges the nuclear bomb, for now. But there's still a clear problem with Sunday Ticket.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[raduray]

 

[TheRainMaker]

It really has been a ripoff for years. Most fans are only going to want to watch their favorite teams play. I hope YouTube develops a package for teams only.

 

[raduray]

I'm in Florida for the last month of the season and I'd be willing to pay for individual games. What I do now is set up my router to be a VPN server, log into it from Florida, and watch the game on my laptop on the Spectrum website which thinks I'm in Worcester.

 

[Ian]

Never sad to see the league lose in court. I would certainly prefer to be able to pay for an individual team’s season, and I hope we see that. Although, knowing the NFL, probably not.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Good. This was the deal they have been violating for years. The NFL agreed that as a condition of their monopoly status they would make sure games were available on airway television, with blackout rules in place for ticket sale reasons. They have been violating this agreement for years and getting away with it. I’m glad they finally have been held accountable.

 

[1960Pats]

It really has been a ripoff for years. Most fans are only going to want to watch their favorite teams play. I hope YouTube develops a package for teams only.

So, does the NYFL owe me money? I had it for a couple of years.

 

[XLIX]

It'll be years before any money gets paid, given the NFL's avenue of appeals. Heck the Judge's final ruling doesn't even start taking place for another month from now.

Having said that, it'll be interesting if we see some changes in the NFL Sunday Ticket in the short term, or if the NFL keeps compounding their liabilities.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Happy that the NYFL lost but now the lawyers win. Thank goodness they can afford that 3rd home now. Us little folks get nothing.

 

[DaBruinz]

Each Franchise of the NFL will owe $155M..

 

[borg]

Each Franchise of the NFL will owe $155M..

......times 3 (triple damages) plus more (lawyers, interest)
------------------------------------------------------------------
The biggest expense for the NFL arising from Thursday’s verdict will be the $14.088 billion ($4.696 billion, times three) for antitrust violations arising from the Sunday Ticket class action.

There will be other expenses.

The antitrust laws allow for the recovery of reasonable attorneys’ fees. Given that the case goes back nine years, the final bill submitted by the lawyers representing the class will be a big one, probably somewhere between $50 million and $100 million.

Then there’s interest — prejudgment and postjudgment. Nine years of interest on the front end, and who knows how many years of interest on the back end?

NFL will face other expenses in Sunday Ticket case, from attorneys' fees to interest

The biggest expense for the NFL arising from Thursday's verdict will be the $14.088 billion ($4.696 billion, times three) for antitrust violations arising from the Sunday Ticket class action.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[oldrover]

 

[Triumph]

The NFL will appeal.

 

[JPPT1974]

NFL of course will appeal and may win it as a billion dollar company of course.

 

[Family]

According to Volin (I know) the appeal is going to be heard before the season begins.

 

[XLIX]

According to Volin (I know) the appeal is going to be heard before the season begins.

I don't see any way whatsoever that happens, and I am not sure that is precisely what he said.

The NFL is going to ask the Judge of the current trial to overturn the verdict. Those proceedings start on July 31 and will take us into August. But if the Judge refuses to do so, and the NFL appeals, it will not be heard before the season starts.

 

[Family]

I don't see any way whatsoever that happens, and I am not sure that is precisely what he said.

The NFL is going to ask the Judge of the current trial to overturn the verdict. Those proceedings start on July 31 and will take us into August. But if the Judge refuses to do so, and the NFL appeals, it will not be heard before the season starts.

You are correct. This is precisely what he said.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Happy that the NYFL lost but now the lawyers win. Thank goodness they can afford that 3rd home now. Us little folks get nothing.

Don’t worry, when all is said and done the billionaires will get their way. They always do.

 

[XLIX]

Happy that the NYFL lost but now the lawyers win. Thank goodness they can afford that 3rd home now. Us little folks get nothing.

In this case, that’s not necessarily true. Oh don’t get me wrong, the lawyers will make a fortune if they win (and win again on appeal and win on the appeal after that). But $10 billion spread out amongst the people who bought Sunday Ticket ain’t chump change because it’s not a terribly large group.

I read one estimate that it could be $400 per person per year. That’s $4,000 for me. Now I don’t expect to see it until 2035 - and that assumes the plaintiffs keep winning - but not a bad chunk of change.

NOTE: if the plaintiffs win (and win again on appeal and win the appeal after that) then there are no hard and fast set rules regarding dividing up the money. The above is just one estimate of many but they are estimating both the numbers of subscribers AND the way the money will be distributed.

 

[PancakeBlockPaul]

Why is it not possible to have a team package?….get EVERY pats game a season…you’d think that would have been a popular thing, no?