For nearly three decades, NFL Sunday Ticket allowed subscribers to watch out-of-market football games via a DirecTV sports package. However, in 2023, YouTube TV took over Sunday Ticket, bringing the NFL’s biggest subscription service to a streaming platform.
But now, an antitrust case dating back to 2015 could impact 2.4 million NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers. Eligible participants are estimated to receive over $6 billion in damages ($2,500 per person).
The lawsuit alleges that the structured “exclusive packaging of teams’ out-of-market rights in NFL Sunday Ticket violates U.S. antitrust law and creates artificially high prices.” In other words, NFL Sunday Ticket is being accused of price gouging simply because they know their consumers don’t have another option available.
Others would like to see NFL teams allowed to individually sell rights to their out-of-market games to help reduce costs, allowing fans to simply pay to watch their favorite team instead of being forced to pay for the entire league. Other sports, such as the NBA and MLB, allow individual team streaming services, but not the NFL.
So far, the class action lawsuit includes 2.4 million subscribers and an additional 48,000 businesses that have paid for an NFL Sunday Ticket subscription over the past nine years.
Several key league officials, including Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, and Robert Kraft, will be asked to testify in court on June 5.
Depending on the ruling, some experts project the total damages to reach as high as $6.1 billion, which equates to just under $2,500 per person. If successful, Sunday Ticket may be asked to allow teams to sell individual TV packages to provide fans with more access to their games. These contracts could be worth an estimated $200 million per franchise, bringing even more revenue to each team.
Another possibility is for the NFL to reach a settlement before the case goes to trial, which would likely result in a drastically reduced amount of penalties.
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