NFL Faces Monumental Antitrust Suit Over ‘Sunday Ticket’ Package

The National Football League (NFL) is facing a monumental antitrust lawsuit that could cost the league more than $21 billion. The case, which was originally filed in 2015, revolves around the ‘Sunday Ticket’ package and whether the NFL violated any antitrust laws by offering this package to consumers.

The NFL’s ‘Sunday Ticket’ package has been a staple for out-of-market fans since 1994.

Starting in 1994, the NFL began offering ‘Sunday Ticket’ as an option for out-of-market fans who wanted to watch their home team. For instance, a Steelers fan living in Seattle wouldn’t have had many options to watch Pittsburgh play prior to 1994, but with the inception of ‘Sunday Ticket,’ that fan had a way to watch every Steelers game.

Out-of-market fans have relied on ‘Sunday Ticket’ to watch their favorite teams.

The argument from the plaintiffs is simple: They think the NFL worked together with its network partners to inflate the price of ‘Sunday Ticket.’ The attorney for the plaintiffs, Amanda Bonn, said that the price for ‘Sunday Ticket’ is unaffordable for most people.

“NFL, Fox, CBS and DirecTV agreed to make an expensive toll road that very few people would be able to afford,” Bonn said in her opening statement.

The cost of ‘Sunday Ticket’ has been a point of contention for many fans.

As for the NFL, the league’s attorney, Beth Wilkinson, made the argument that ‘Sunday Ticket’ is expensive because it’s a premium offering.

“The case is about choice. This is a valuable, premium product. Think about all the choices available to fans. We want as many people as possible to watch the free broadcasts,” Wilkinson said.

The NFL argues that ‘Sunday Ticket’ is a premium product with many choices for fans.

The NFL designed ‘Sunday Ticket’ so that it wouldn’t take a huge chunk of TV ratings away from its network partners, according to former NFL executive Steve Bornstein, who testified on Thursday.

“The NFL always wanted ‘Sunday Ticket’ to be an additional package. That is how it is was designed since its inception,” Bornstein said.

If the NFL were to lose this case, it could potentially be extremely costly. The plaintiffs are seeking $7.1 billion in damages, but since this is a federal antitrust case, the law calls for that number to be tripled, which means there’s potentially $21.3 billion on the line for the NFL.

A potential loss could cost the NFL billions of dollars.

Overall, this is a case that covers every residential and commercial customer who subscribed to ‘Sunday Ticket’ between 2012 and 2022, which puts the class-action number at nearly 2.5 million people.

The outcome of this case could have a significant impact on the NFL and its fans.