Jury orders NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion in 'Sunday Ticket' case for violating antitrust laws

[Flamma]

I am against extending him, and I'm not complaining about lack of FA activity.

Yes I know. I am also against extending him. But I won't care if they do. Because nothing would change either way.

 

[Typhus]

What if you bought it before 2011?

 

[Typhus]

I remember when the ticket first became available to the general public. I shelled out 900 bones to Sears for the Dish, Receiver, and had to install it myself.
It was right before DTV started handing the equipment plus install out for free with subscription.

 

[DogFace]

Unless you are a corporation (I realize you are “people” too) you should stop the cheerleading for this greed.

Corporations love your help(they view you as pawns), but they don’t need or deserve it. Thanks!

 

[kskboys]

Unless you are a corporation (I realize you are “people” too) you should stop the cheerleading for this greed.

Corporations love your help(they view you as pawns), but they don’t need or deserve it. Thanks!

Not really. Corporations don't love anything. They are mindless.

 

[Creeper]

I don't know.......but their violation seems cut and dry. I do know the league has enjoyed a special anti-trust exemption with congressional blessing. This was always mentioned during their negotiation with the players' union on a new CBA even going back to Pete Rozell's days. In other words, they went out their way to avoid any violation or issues that would draw congressional attention. An atty on X said he expects a settlement if the league loses the first two rounds of appeal. He didn't the league would appeal to the Supreme Court coz a loss could cost them the exemption and be a game changer in how they operate. He compared the impact the Supreme Court decision had on paying college athletes.
We will see ....


The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

Yes, the NFL does enjoy a congressional sanctions anti-trust exemption. This is why congress gets involved in things like Dan Snyder's alleged bad behavior. What does the exemption mean? I don't really know. It could just mean they are allowed to run a monopoly as the only professional football league that plays games in the fall. But I am sure it has some added effect on contracts with players. The question is, does it extend to NFL games broadcasting rights. It looks like the lower court said no. A jury said the NFL abused it's monopoly to force DirecTV subscribers to pay higher prices. Clearly, with no competition, the NFL and DirecTV could charge a higher price. Maybe they did.

 

[Creeper]

This is an interesting analysis. I'd have to go back and look it up but I thought DirecTV paid 1.0 to 1.5 billion a year to the NFL for Sunday Ticket. I don't know if that has always been the rate but that do seem a little high. But remember when they first got together they had over 25 million subscribers. I would wager a good 15-20% of those (5 million subscriptions) were also Sunday Ticket buyers. So they only needed to charge 200 bucks a pop (which I think is where it started) to make that money back. And that would be in addition to the regular DirecTV service. If they got 100 bucks a pop on that then that would be $2.5 billion a year for the satelliite service and another $1 billion for the Ticket and they were doing fine. Where things went south is when AT&T bought them and they started losing customers. They are down over 14 million customers since they were bought by AT&T. Fewer customers means they have to charge more to meet their costs .. which in turn makes even more customers leave. They're in a downward spiral and it's not ending any time soon.

From what I read, DirecTV had about 11.3 million subscribers last year and under 2 million Sunday Ticket subscribers the year before their deal with the NFL expired. I understand Youtube has about the same number of subscribers, but they need $4.5 million to turn a profit. Clearly, they need to find a way to grow subscribers over the next couple of years to make it work for them.

I am sure they have lots of market research to rely on, but I wonder if they cut the price in half, or sold games a la carte, would it increase their revenue stream by adding new subscribers?

I always wondered why the NFL didn't market Sunday Ticket under their own label. I am sure they could contract with someone like Netflix, or Youtube to white label their infrastructure. Could it be the NFL knows it's a loser and wants no part of the losses, or are they afraid that would be an anti-trust issues too?

 

[stinkface]

I still can't believe it will cost almost 500 bucks to renew this year via Youtube. That's insane.

 

[windward]

I still can't believe it will cost almost 500 bucks to renew this year via Youtube. That's insane.

I paid $250 with my YTTV subscription.

 

[Deep_South]

So, antitrust laws cover DirecTV but not YouTube?

 

[sbark]

Salary cap shockwaves?
Jerry read the tea leaves?

https://fansided.com/posts/jerry-jones-cowboys-dak-prescott-extension-salary-cap

If the league is ordered to pay $12 billion in legal damages, well, the salary cap is going to implode. The league's total earnings in 2023 were $19 billion. The NFL plans to appeal the jury's decision, but if higher courts sustain the penalty, the league is in for a challenging few years.

Contracts won't scale down to the salary cap's percentage if the league's vault is liquidated. Mosqueda uses Jordan Love's inevitable extension with Green Bay as an example. If he signs for $60 million annually and the salary cap gets chopped in half, the Packers are pretty much screwed. Love still makes $60 million annually and their flexibility is naught.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I always wondered why the NFL didn't market Sunday Ticket under their own label. I am sure they could contract with someone like Netflix, or Youtube to white label their infrastructure. Could it be the NFL knows it's a loser and wants no part of the losses, or are they afraid that would be an anti-trust issues too?

That's exactly what the NFL should do. And have contracts with multiple companies.

You shouldn't have to change providers just to get Sunday Ticket.

 

[kskboys]

Salary cap shockwaves?
Jerry read the tea leaves?

https://fansided.com/posts/jerry-jones-cowboys-dak-prescott-extension-salary-cap

If the league is ordered to pay $12 billion in legal damages, well, the salary cap is going to implode. The league's total earnings in 2023 were $19 billion. The NFL plans to appeal the jury's decision, but if higher courts sustain the penalty, the league is in for a challenging few years.

Contracts won't scale down to the salary cap's percentage if the league's vault is liquidated. Mosqueda uses Jordan Love's inevitable extension with Green Bay as an example. If he signs for $60 million annually and the salary cap gets chopped in half, the Packers are pretty much screwed. Love still makes $60 million annually and their flexibility is naught.

Interesting stuff.

Makes me wonder if Jerry hasn't extended Dak because he knew this was coming?

 

[SuspectCorner]

after the attorneys get theirs, I will see about $2.70 for the 30 years I have had it.

Attorneys typically take about 1/3 of the pie.

 

[Flamma]

From what I read, DirecTV had about 11.3 million subscribers last year and under 2 million Sunday Ticket subscribers the year before their deal with the NFL expired. I understand Youtube has about the same number of subscribers, but they need $4.5 million to turn a profit. Clearly, they need to find a way to grow subscribers over the next couple of years to make it work for them.

I am sure they have lots of market research to rely on, but I wonder if they cut the price in half, or sold games a la carte, would it increase their revenue stream by adding new subscribers?

I always wondered why the NFL didn't market Sunday Ticket under their own label. I am sure they could contract with someone like Netflix, or Youtube to white label their infrastructure. Could it be the NFL knows it's a loser and wants no part of the losses, or are they afraid that would be an anti-trust issues too?

This is how I understand it. Because at one point I was puzzled. They keep Sunday ticket at a high price so that it doesn't hurt the TV networks. If Sunday Ticket was affordable for everyone, a lot more people might not be tuning in to the NBC or FOX broadcast. I'm pretty sure that's their cash cow. I'm pretty sure the NFL won't do anything that might jeopardize that.

 

[gtb1943]

Interesting stuff.

Makes me wonder if Jerry hasn't extended Dak because he knew this was coming?

nah, I doubt it. Might take a little more sweat but Jethro can come up with the money. I think the delay is about something else entirely

 

[Coogiguy03]

Couldn't they just fire Goodell instead?

Hire Stephen, every team would be forced to spend only 2 percent of their cap space

 

[RonnieT24]

From what I read, DirecTV had about 11.3 million subscribers last year and under 2 million Sunday Ticket subscribers the year before their deal with the NFL expired. I understand Youtube has about the same number of subscribers, but they need $4.5 million to turn a profit. Clearly, they need to find a way to grow subscribers over the next couple of years to make it work for them.

I am sure they have lots of market research to rely on, but I wonder if they cut the price in half, or sold games a la carte, would it increase their revenue stream by adding new subscribers?

I always wondered why the NFL didn't market Sunday Ticket under their own label. I am sure they could contract with someone like Netflix, or Youtube to white label their infrastructure. Could it be the NFL knows it's a loser and wants no part of the losses, or are they afraid that would be an anti-trust issues too?

I assume you meant to type 4.5 million subscribers not dollars. If it was just that many dollars they made that in the first 15 minutes after they started selling subscriptions. I think the a la carte product makes a lot of sense. I bought it to watch the Cowboys when I lived in Cali. I guarantee you there are 20 million Cowboy fans in other markets who would gladly pay like 100 bucks to get every Cowboys game. Being able to watch every other games was nice to have but not a necessity. Maybe include one other game of your choosing during the Cowboys bye week of their Sunday/Thursday/Saturday/Monday night games. I would be shocked if there were not another 50 million fans of other teams living out of market who would happily shell out the same for their favorite team's games. The mistake DirecTV and the NFL made with The Ticket was forcing customers to shell out for satellite even if they didn't want it and to pay for the full package when in reality all they really wanted was on team. The list of people who want that is a much smaller list than the people who just want their favorite team.

 

[Chasing6]

From what I read, DirecTV had about 11.3 million subscribers last year and under 2 million Sunday Ticket subscribers the year before their deal with the NFL expired. I understand Youtube has about the same number of subscribers, but they need $4.5 million to turn a profit. Clearly, they need to find a way to grow subscribers over the next couple of years to make it work for them.

I am sure they have lots of market research to rely on, but I wonder if they cut the price in half, or sold games a la carte, would it increase their revenue stream by adding new subscribers?

I always wondered why the NFL didn't market Sunday Ticket under their own label. I am sure they could contract with someone like Netflix, or Youtube to white label their infrastructure. Could it be the NFL knows it's a loser and wants no part of the losses, or are they afraid that would be an anti-trust issues too?

They want a bidding war to maximize profits. Don't forget it is not job about subscribers. There is also commercial revenue to be made.

 

[Flamma]

I assume you meant to type 4.5 million subscribers not dollars. If it was just that many dollars they made that in the first 15 minutes after they started selling subscriptions. I think the a la carte product makes a lot of sense. I bought it to watch the Cowboys when I lived in Cali. I guarantee you there are 20 million Cowboy fans in other markets who would gladly pay like 100 bucks to get every Cowboys game. Being able to watch every other games was nice to have but not a necessity. Maybe include one other game of your choosing during the Cowboys bye week of their Sunday/Thursday/Saturday/Monday night games. I would be shocked if there were not another 50 million fans of other teams living out of market who would happily shell out the same for their favorite team's games. The mistake DirecTV and the NFL made with The Ticket was forcing customers to shell out for satellite even if they didn't want it and to pay for the full package when in reality all they really wanted was on team. The list of people who want that is a much smaller list than the people who just want their favorite team.

They didn't force me. I wasn't switching from cable to Satellite. By the time I didn't need to switch to Direct TV, I no longer wanted Sunday ticket. A damn shame.

But like I said before. They don't want to hurt network ratings. Isn't that where they get a big chunk of their money? Isn't that largely why the cap keeps going up? You can't have everyone paying a few bucks to watch their team and not watch the regularly broadcasted games. So they keep Sunday Ticket expensive.