On Wednesday, the NFL sent a team of lawyers to court to fight the $4.7 billion antitrust verdict issued in the Sunday Ticket class action. After the hearing, the league issued a new statement regarding the case.
“Today we asked the district court to set aside the jury’s verdict in this case, which is contrary to the law and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial,” the NFL said in comments emailed to PFT. “The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan friendly in sports, with all games broadcast locally on free over-the-air television in addition to many other choices available to fans who want even more access to NFL content. We will continue to pursue all avenues in defense of the claims brought in this case.”
We invited the plaintiffs’ lawyers to send a statement of their own. As of this posting, they have not yet done so.
The case arises from allegations (accepted by a jury) that the NFL’s 32 teams banded together and overcharged for out-of-market games through Sunday Ticket in order to ensure that many would choose to watch “free over-the-air” games available in each local market. The apparent goal was to maximize earnings from DirecTV for out-of-market games and earnings from CBS and Fox for in-market games.
The NFL has the right to challenge the verdict. The NFL could win, either at the trial court level or on appeal.
Meanwhile, there has been no indication that the NFL will change the model for out-of-market games in the aftermath of last month’s verdict. If anything, today’s statement reflects an intention to continue to do what the NFL has been doing since Sunday Ticket debuted in 1994.