A federal judge has overturned a nearly $5 billion verdict in an NFL “Sunday Ticket” case. The class-action lawsuit was brought by subscribers who alleged the NFL violated anti-trust laws by overcharging to watch out-of-market games on its paid subscription service.
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Upon appeal, a U.S. district judge ruled two witnesses’ testimonies should have been left out and said the jury’s verdict was “clearly not supported by evidence and must be vacated.”
In a statement, the NFL said it was “grateful” for the ruling.
“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,” the NFL’s statement said.
In the class-action lawsuit, which was filed in 2015, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that by restricting broadcasts of those out-of-market games to the Sunday Ticket package, the NFL is forcing customers to pay more.
Because it was an anti-trust case, if the verdict would have been upheld, the fine would have been tripled. That means the NFL would have had to pay $14.1 billion in damages.
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