The jury spoke. And the judge ignored it. In every way possible.
Nearly three weeks after throwing out a $4.7 billion verdict based on expert testimony he rejected AFTER allowing it, Judge Philip Gutierrez has entered a final judgment that refuses to grant the 2.4 million residential consumers and nearly 50,000 commercial establishments injunctive relief against the antitrust violation the jury found.
Via A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.com, Gutierrez entered the final judgment on Tuesday, with no requirement that the NFL stop doing the thing that the jury found to be impermissible.
Gutierrez, ignoring objection from the plaintiffs, took the order proposed by the NFL, struck out the word “proposed,” and entered the judgment.
It leaves the plaintiffs SOL (legal term), forcing others to sue — and to hope that the judge handling the case will allow (and then not reject after the verdict) expert testimony aimed at coming up with the out-of-market ticket pricing in an alternate universe without the NFL violating antitrust laws by distributing the package in a way that discourages fans from buying it, and that encourages them to settle for the games available on their local CBS and Fox affiliates.
The next step for the plaintiffs, barring what would likely be a fruitless motion for reconsideration to Gutierrez (who is retiring in October), will be to file within 30 day a notice of appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Then, in roughly 12 to 18 months, a three-judge panel will decide whether Gutierrez got it right, or whether he got it wrong.
