A jury in federal court made a major move against the NFL last week.
A jury ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages after ruling that the league violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on the NFL Sunday Ticket.
The jury also awarded $96 million in damages to the commercial class. As the Associated Press noted, damages can be tripled under antitrust laws, which means the NFL could be on the hook for $14.39 billion when the dust settles.
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the league said in a statement. “We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.
“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez is scheduled to hear post-trial motions on July 31st. The NFL is asking the judge to rule in their favor by claiming the plaintiffs did not prove their case.
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