When I was a kid, I would read the sports page every morning while munching on a bowl of Frosted Flakes before they got too dark. Every now and then I looked at some news in the newspaper.
And then I stopped.
Something was always happening that had been happening for a while. The latest story on this issue took a basic level of understanding of the situation. If you didn’t have it, you were SOL.
For those of you who have returned to football after a summer of doing other things, here are some things about the Sunday Ticket case. Maybe you don’t understand what it’s about. So, here’s a summary of what the case is about, what happened, what’s next, and how you can find out more about it.
The case began in 2015. It is a combination of a class action brought by trade unions and a class action on behalf of more than 2.4 million Sunday ticket customers. Combined classes cover 2011 through 2022.
Anyone who bought Sunday Tickets during that period should check out this sitemaybe even mark it.
The reports are very simple. Since 1961, the NFL has had the ability to sell TV rights as an alliance to free up the network, thanks to an antitrust exemption granted by Congress. That release, as highlighted by testimony from former Commissioner Pete Rozelle to Congress at the time, was never intended to apply to “pay” TV.
When the NFL sold TV rights to network networks for the first time in the late 1980s (Sunday night halftime on ESPN), no one pushed the antitrust issue. When the NFL sold an off-market package to DirecTV in 1994, a potential antitrust violation was hidden in plain sight.
The harm, as alleged and proven in this lawsuit, came from the NFL setting Sunday Ticket prices that discouraged millions of people who would have bought them to attend games available on their local CBS affiliate. and Fox. This allowed the NFL to find a sweet spot, where it could earn billions from DirecTV (thanks to fans who happily paid the premium price) and billions from CBS and Fox. (those who reluctantly put up with the missing values from the Sunday Ticket).
After nine years of litigation, which included the first district court judge tossing out the case and the appeals court reopening it, the trial began in June. Even the NFL’s worst-case scenario was marked before the trial began about $21 billion, coverage was sparse and sparse. Niche sites often contained articles. The AP would push the story time after time painted with a broad but incomplete brush. There was no one sitting in court, watching the case and sending daily updates on how things were going.
We tried to sound the alarm that something big was coming. Few listened. Those who did tended to be less concerned, perhaps because fewer said, “Hey, the NFL could lose a lot of money here.”
Then came the verdict: $4.7 billion. If/when it is entered as a legal judgment, it will triple itself to $14.1 billion.
The NFL will continue to fight; there is too much money at stake. Depending on what the judge said during the trial, the NFL may have a chance to get the verdict out. And if the ruling becomes a legal ruling, the NFL will appeal the outcome as much as it can.
Due to the sloppy handling of the case, we purchased the entire 2,506-page transcript earlier this month. I’m getting through it, one day at a time.
If you are interested in the issues that may have been raised by someone/anyone during the trial, here are the links to the first eight days of the trial:
Day 1 (jury selection).
Day 2 (opening statements).
Day 2-3 (testimony from Steve Bornstein, former director of NFL Media).
Day 3 (testimony from accuser Robert Lipincott, fired Saints fan).
Day 4 (testimony from Fox CEO Larry Jones).
Day 5-6 (testimony from Dr. Daniel Rascher on damage).
Day 6 (judge expresses frustration with plaintiffs’ attorneys).
Day 6 (testimony from Brian Rolapp, current director of NFL Media).
Day 7 (testimony from expert witnesses on damages).
Day 8 (testimony from Roger Goodell).
I still have about 1,000 pages of text left. So there is more to come.
And there are more to come in court. On Wednesday, the judge will hear arguments on the NFL’s motion for judgment as a matter of law.
Finally, the appeal will happen. Because $14.1 billion is on the line, it will go to the Supreme Court of the United States. It will be many years before it is done.
Along the way, the question is whether the NFL will change the Sunday Ticket pricing structure to avoid additional liability. Or whether it will remove the Sunday Ticket altogether.
And whether the owners will try to force some of the 14.1 billion dollars from others. Starting with the players.
We will continue to cover the case, and summarize the article, on our dedicated page with all the Sunday Ticket stories. For those who bought Sunday Tickets from 2011 to 2022, a smaller check may be coming. For those who want to keep buying it, chances are it will be easy and cheap to get.
Win or lose, this is an inescapable fact. The NFL ripped off its most ardent fans by paying more than they should have to watch out-of-market games. The “choice” came at a cost sufficient to induce many displaced fans to watch any games they could find in their home markets, allowing the NFL to enter the fold two in the billion dollar buckets presented to them by DirectTV and CBS / Fox.
#speed #Sunday #Ticket #case