NFL releases statement on judge's decision to overturn $4.7 billion Sunday Ticket verdict

After U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled in favor of the NFL in the Sunday Ticket case on Thursday, the league released a statement. Gutierrez overturned the jury’s original decision, which called for the NFL to pay damages in a class-action case.

In late June, a jury awarded $4.7 billion in damages to fans and bars are part of the lawsuit following a three-week trial. However, Gutierrez argued two testimonies for the subscribers shouldn’t have been included, and he previously said they “didn’t follow the rules” during the trial – which also included testimony from Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones.

The NFL expressed its gratitude for Gutierrez’s decision and said it’s turning focus to this coming season. The league also defended its media distribution plans as it had in earlier statements about the case.

“We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,” the statement read. “We believe that the NFL’s media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television.

“We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 NFL season.”

Gutierrez’s decision is a major win for the NFL, and he explained his decision at the end of his 16-page ruling. He argued the jury couldn’t find “class wide injury or damages” during the three-week trial.

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants Defendants’ judgment as a matter of law as without the testimonies of Dr. [Daniel] Rascher and Dr. [John] Zona no reasonable jury could have found class wide injury or damages,” the docket order read, via Daniel Kaplan.

The class-action case covered more than 2.45 million commercial and residential subscribers who could see up to $7.1 billion in damages. A jury then ruled the NFL would have to pay fans and bars that amount under federal antitrust law.

The plaintiffs accused the league of conspiring with the networks to maintain premium pricing on Sunday Ticket to encourage an increase in local viewing. Former NFL Network president Steve Borstein testified that Sunday Ticket was never intended to reduce CBS and FOX’s local ratings.

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

Although Gutierrez threw out the case, there’s still a potential for appeals. However, he didn’t order a new trial, meaning a new case would be necessary if the decision was to change.