For Wednesday’s #PFTPM, a viewer from the U.K. asked a question regarding three significant legal issues the NFL is facing. Between the Jon Gruden case, the Brian Flores case, and the Sunday Ticket case, which one will have a new development first?
The most likely case to move forward is the Sunday Ticket litigation.
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The Gruden and Flores lawsuits have entered the discovery phase, which will feature information-gathering activities spanning months. The Sunday Ticket case is pending on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The issues have been briefed. The oral argument has occurred. A ruling could come at literally any time.
And the ruling could be very significant. Two years ago, a jury found that the NFL violated the antitrust laws through the pricing of Sunday Ticket. The league’s goal was to price it at a level that discouraged customers from buying it, instead watching whatever games were available in their local markets on CBS and Fox.
It was, and still is, a delicate balance. CBS and Fox want to maximize viewership. They hold their noses and allow their feeds to populate the out-of-market package, which currently is streaming but previously (and for years) was available only by satellite. Consumers have to choose between paying a lot to watch the games they want to see, or settling for the games delivered to the areas where they live.
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The jury in the Sunday Ticket case entered a $4.7 billion verdict, which by law would be tripled to $14.1 billion if/when it becomes a formal judgment. The judge threw out the award, but not the finding of an antitrust violation.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit could uphold the judge’s decision, reverse it and reinstate the verdict, or reverse it and send the case back for a new trial on the issue of financial damages.
It’s also possible that, eventually, an injunction will be issued against the NFL, forcing it to stop distributing Sunday Ticket through a deliberately overpriced product.
For now, the NFL has adhered to the status quo. Despite the potentially enormous financial liability flowing from the effort to continue to have it both ways — collecting large fees from CBS and FOX for in-market broadcasts, and a large fee from YouTube for the out-of-market package.
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Regardless of what happens with Congress or the FCC or the Department of Justice as to the current broadcast antitrust exemption, the Sunday Ticket case continues to hover over the NFL. The final outcome could cost the league billions, it could force the NFL to revolutionize Sunday Ticket pricing and distribution, or both.
It may not be full-blown chaos, but the outcome could be quite chaotic for the NFL.
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