The biggest expense for the NFL arising from Thursday’s verdict will be the $14.088 billion ($4.696 billion, times three) for antitrust violations arising from the Sunday Ticket class action.
There will be other expenses.
The antitrust laws allow for the recovery of reasonable attorneys’ fees. Given that the case goes back nine years, the final bill submitted by the lawyers representing the class will be a big one, probably somewhere between $50 million and $100 million.
Then there’s interest — prejudgment and postjudgment. Nine years of interest on the front end, and who knows how many years of interest on the back end?
Even if the NFL ultimately wins (and it still could), the league surely has paid many millions to its own lawyers since the case was filed.
That’s what big law firms do. They all want what they call “cost-insensitive clients,” who have big money and big problems and who pay big monthly invoices without batting an eye.
Whatever happens, the NFL isn’t going out of business. But the NFL might eventually have to dig very deep into the couch cushions to come up with the cash. If the final number is indeed $14.088 billion, there will be a lot more on top of that.
But, hey, when $14 billion is already sailing away and never coming back, what’s another billion or so?