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

[Creeper]

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.

Correct. 4.5 million subscribers. I need to work on my editing skills!

I agree with the rest. The reason I cancelled my subscription to Sunday Ticket is because I had to subscribe to DirecTV with at least their basic package in order to get the NFL package. Even though they let me suspend service for 6 months, and reactivate at no cost, it is still $60 per month for 6 months plus the cost of Sunday Ticket. I also didn't like the fact that I had to pay extra to get the games in HD. This made no sense since all the games were carried in high def for network watchers.

 

[gtb1943]

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.

I was lucky enough not to pay that much but it was still plenty; so I hear you

 

[Creeper]

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.

I think that is a consideration, but Sunday Ticket streams the commercials with the game just like regular TV so I am not sure why the networks would complain. One of the most annoying things about Sunday Ticket when I had it is when there was a commercial break, I would switch to another game, and it seemed like some kind of strange force that all the games would be in commercial break at the same time most of the time.

 

[kskboys]

I think that is a consideration, but Sunday Ticket streams the commercials with the game just like regular TV so I am not sure why the networks would complain. One of the most annoying things about Sunday Ticket when I had it is when there was a commercial break, I would switch to another game, and it seemed like some kind of strange force that all the games would be in commercial break at the same time most of the time.

They are just out to get you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Flamma]

I think that is a consideration, but Sunday Ticket streams the commercials with the game just like regular TV so I am not sure why the networks would complain. One of the most annoying things about Sunday Ticket when I had it is when there was a commercial break, I would switch to another game, and it seemed like some kind of strange force that all the games would be in commercial break at the same time most of the time.

It has to have something to do with the ratings on those networks. The same commercials watched on a different channel doesn't help. I heard Jerry say it himself. It is to protect free TV. I don't always believe Jerry, but it does make sense.

I don't think it's a strange force, they're doing it to you on purpose.

Whenever I find a streaming site for gambling purposes, if I just have 4 games up, on a rare occasion would all 4 be at commercial break at the same time. When that happens, one will come back in like 5 seconds. Put up 5 or more, and 1 will always not be on a commercial break.

 

[conner01]

so does this mean the salary cap for next year is not going to be what was thought?

No, it means the nfl is going to appeal

 

[conner01]

Wonder if this will affect the cap?

Not anytime soon even if it’s upheld which I highly doubt it is

 

[conner01]

I don't know what they did wrong here, or why they are required to market their package on multiple distributors. How is what the NFL is doing illegal, but pay per view events totally legal? I guess we'll have to wait for the appeals.

That’s why I think they win on appeal. It’s their product and they can sell it to whomever they want. I no lawyer but I don’t see how selling the pkg to the highest bidder is an anti trust violation since all in market games are free to all in market viewers and out of markets games are at the discretion of the networks to show which ever they want to

 

[Chasing6]

No, it means the nfl is going to appeal

Appeal and most likely start to save some money.

 

[RonnieT24]

I think that is a consideration, but Sunday Ticket streams the commercials with the game just like regular TV so I am not sure why the networks would complain. One of the most annoying things about Sunday Ticket when I had it is when there was a commercial break, I would switch to another game, and it seemed like some kind of strange force that all the games would be in commercial break at the same time most of the time.

This is no accident. They time it up that way.. That's why sometimes when you are at the game the ref will stand there holding the ball for no apparent reason. Basically it's signaling that your game didn't get to a nice break point when the rest of the games did so they had to call an "official's time out."

 

[RonnieT24]

That’s why I think they win on appeal. It’s their product and they can sell it to whomever they want. I no lawyer but I don’t see how selling the pkg to the highest bidder is an anti trust violation since all in market games are free to all in market viewers and out of markets games are at the discretion of the networks to show which ever they want to

The question though is did they offer it to all bidders? The other broken component to me was when they started blacking out local games for some reason. I'm sure we've all hit the glitch where you want to be able to scroll conveniently through the Ticket channels up in the 700? range but when you get to your local market it's blacked out and you have to go all the way over to the local channels. The hell is that all about? It wasn't that way before. Why do it to me now? Why I gotta jump from channel 714 to channel 5 now when before I could just scroll through the channels looking for action? Do they still do that? Since I have not had the Ticket now for 4 years I really don't know.

 

[gtb1943]

No, it means the nfl is going to appeal

you do realize that when the judge makes the final decision on the amount, the NFL HAS to put that money into a separate fund?

 

[conner01]

you do realize that when the judge makes the final decision on the amount, the NFL HAS to put that money into a separate fund?

They will put up a bond that costs way less. The NFL has plenty of money and I think a great chance to win on appeal. A loss would devastate every sport and destroy their biggest revenue source while taking away any ability for fans to have more options to watch games not in their market. This will go all the way to the Supreme Court if needed because this ruling changing all sports broadcasting abilities

 

[conner01]

The question though is did they offer it to all bidders? The other broken component to me was when they started blacking out local games for some reason. I'm sure we've all hit the glitch where you want to be able to scroll conveniently through the Ticket channels up in the 700? range but when you get to your local market it's blacked out and you have to go all the way over to the local channels. The hell is that all about? It wasn't that way before. Why do it to me now? Why I gotta jump from channel 714 to channel 5 now when before I could just scroll through the channels looking for action? Do they still do that? Since I have not had the Ticket now for 4 years I really don't know.

I’ve never had the Sunday ticket but if local channels were blocked that would be on the broadcaster not the nfl. The broadcast channels are broadcasting spectrum so where it is does matter

 

[Ghost12]

The law just doesn't mean anything anymore. Courts just keep inventing crap for whatever ruling they feel like.

Nobody was forced to buy this. The league has a right to its broadcast rights. Nobody was harmed here.

So does Apple break the law by being the only service to show Ted Lasso?

The League, which is officially 32 independent businesses, does not have the right to do what they did. Comparing them to Apple is a poor analogy because Apple is one single business.

You can argue no one was forced to buy it (and you'd be correct) but that doesn't matter. The courts didn't "invent" anything here. The law forbids independent businesses from doing what these 32 businesses did.

 

[Ghost12]

I forget when I cancelled my subscription because I felt I was getting ripped off by the ridiculously high prices but I am sure I still had it from 2011 to at least 2016. But I an not expecting much of a check, if I even get one.

The NFL says they will appeal. It may be a while before anyone gets any money, if they get any money. The NFL is a monopoly, and they did give DirecTV exclusive rights to Sunday ticket. But is that a violation of anti-Trust laws? From what I understand, appellate courts don't like to reverse jury verdicts unless there were obvious errors in the trial. I didn't follow the trial so I have no idea if there are any grounds for appeal. I smell a settlement in the future for a lot less than $4.8 billion. After all, once the lawyers get paid, I doubt they care about what happens to members of the class.

Here is the big question for me. DirecTV lost money on Sunday Ticket. How did the Monopoly benefit DirecTV?

To say "DirecTV lost money on Sunday Ticket" is misleading. If you look at the cost of Sunday Ticket and the revenue Sunday Ticket generated, they lost money. But countless buyers of Sunday Ticket, including me, only had DirecTV subscriptions because of Sunday Ticket. So I may have spent $399 on Sunday Ticket, but I also gave DirecTV $2,500 over the course of the rest of the year by making them my TV provider.

 

[Ghost12]

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.

The anti-trust exemption is what allows the NFL to negotiate deals with TV networks on behalf of the 32 independent businesses which comprise the League as well as other agreements which relate to all teams, such as the official beer of the NFL. And yes, legally speaking, NFL teams are 32 independent businesses, just like Toyota and Mazda and Chevrolet are independent businesses.

Please note that because the NFL and the 32 teams are independent businesses, you can have a situation where one beer is "The official beer of the NFL" and different beer is "The official beer of the Dallas Cowboys."

 

[RonnieT24]

I’ve never had the Sunday ticket but if local channels were blocked that would be on the broadcaster not the nfl. The broadcast channels are broadcasting spectrum so where it is does matter

No the local channels were not blocked.. it was the local game that was blocked from the Sunday Ticket channels so I could ONLY watch the local game on the local channel(2) . Which made zero sense to me sense it was pretty much the same broadcast but there it was in plain black and white. "Local broadcast rules dictate that we ... yadda yadda yadda.."

 

[conner01]

No the local channels were not blocked.. it was the local game that was blocked from the Sunday Ticket channels so I could ONLY watch the local game on the local channel(2) . Which made zero sense to me sense it was pretty much the same broadcast but there it was in plain black and white. "Local broadcast rules dictate that we ... yadda yadda yadda.."

That may have been because it was on local channels which would violate their broadcast agreement

 

[Adreme]

Not anytime soon even if it’s upheld which I highly doubt it is

It wont affect the cap even if they had to pay out the entire lump sum right now because the cap is based on league revenue and not profits. This ruling will do little to affect league revenue so the cap will remain unaffected.