NFL Hit With $4.7 Billion Damages in Sunday Ticket Trial

  • League’s total payout could triple to $14 billion under US law
  • Broadcast subscribers alleged scheme to increase prices
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The National Football League was hit with about $4.7 billion in damages — which stands to be tripled to $14 billion under federal law — after losing a jury trial over anticompetitive features of its Sunday Ticket broadcast package.

A jury in Los Angeles sided Thursday with football fans who claimed the league conspired with DirecTV to raise the price of subscriptions to watch out-of-market games. The NFL and its teams made the unusual decision to fight the consumer class-action lawsuit at trial instead of negotiating a settlement.