Last week, a federal judge in California dismissed all antitrust claims against the NFL brought by Sunday Ticket subscribers, leaving the subscribers responsible for covering litigation costs. This follows the same judge's prior decision to overturn a $4.7 billion verdict that had been awarded to the subscribers.
In August, the judge deemed the expert testimony on damages unreliable, calling the jury's verdict "irrational." He emphasized that without this testimony, there was no basis for finding harm to the subscribers. This decision followed the NFL's argument that the verdict was unjustified. The judge ultimately dismissed key witness testimony and concluded the damages were unsupported, leading to the dismissal of the case.
He stated in his ruling, "Without the testimonies of Dr. (Daniel) Rascher and Dr. (John) Zona, no reasonable jury could have found class-wide injury or damages."
The ongoing litigation over the NFL's Sunday Ticket package has seen its share of twists and turns. The case, originating from 27 class action lawsuits, alleged that the NFL and DirecTV's exclusive agreement led to inflated prices by limiting competition.
This isn't the NFL's first victory; a judge dismissed the case in 2017, reasoning that the deal didn't reduce game availability and DirecTV's pricing, while potentially high, didn't inherently harm competition due to the negotiation involved. However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case in 2019, paving the way for a class action lawsuit, a June trial, and an initial verdict against the NFL.
However, the NFL swiftly challenged the verdict, arguing that the jury's decision was based on flawed expert testimony. Judge Gutierrez agreed, overturning the verdict in August. The judge ruled that without the contested expert testimony, no reasonable jury could have found the NFL liable, effectively nullifying the multi-billion dollar award.
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