A California judge has overturned a jury verdict that had ordered the NFL to pay over $4.7 billion for antitrust violations related to its "Sunday Ticket" package. The package allows fans to watch out-of-market games but requires them to purchase a bundle of games.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, in his ruling Thursday, cited issues with the methodologies of expert witnesses presented during the trial, CNN reported.
"The Court agrees that Dr. Rascher's and Dr. Zona's testimonies based on their flawed methodologies should be excluded. And because there was no other support for the class-wide injury and damages elements of Plaintiffs'... claims, judgment as a matter of law for the Defendants is appropriate," the ruling said.
The NFL, America's leading television programming source, had already vowed to appeal the June verdict.
The league thanked the judge's decision in a statement and added that their media distribution model offers a variety of ways for fans to follow the game, including local broadcasts of every game on free over-the-air television.
Judge Gutierrez also said the jury's damages awards were not grounded in evidence or reasonable inferences, but rather amounted to "guesswork or speculation." The case, launched in 2015, challenged the NFL's practice of limiting broadcasts of out-of-market games to the "Sunday Ticket" package.
Plaintiffs in the class action suit argued that this restriction forced customers to pay more if they only wanted to watch one team or a select group of teams. They claimed that each team, acting independently, could offer their games at a competitive price due to the relatively low cost of internet streaming and satellite and cable television carriage. Instead, the teams opted for a more profitable monopoly.
Had the antitrust verdict been upheld, the NFL would have faced triple damages, amounting to $14.1 billion.
This isn't the first time the NFL has secured a judgment in relation to this case. In 2017, U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell ruled in favor of the NFL, saying that the "Sunday Ticket" package did not reduce the output of NFL games.
She said that while DirecTV might have charged higher prices, this did not, by itself, harm competition since DirecTV had to negotiate with the NFL to carry the package. However, in 2019, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case, allowing it to proceed.
Given the history of the case, it is likely the plaintiffs will appeal Judge Gutierrez's decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals once again.
