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NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit (trial has begun)


ReggieCamp

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The trial in an antitrust suit filed by fans over the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package for watching out-of-market games that aren’t part of local broadcasts on Sunday afternoons began in a Los Angeles courtroom yesterday, nine years after the case was filed. The suit claims that NFL teams conspired with DirecTV to keep the price high. The NFL argues its broadcasting deals are exempt from antitrust rules under federal law. If a jury agrees that the league’s actions were out of bounds, the NFL could face as much as $21 billion in damages, according to the WSJ.

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the ironic part is the NFL likely could've made more in the long run by simply offering a more affordable plan (or at least some plan to watch all games of a single team for the season). the lack of such a plan with a reasonable cost forced a lot of people who don't live in the broadcasting area of their favorite team into seeking... uh, less reputable... methods of viewing (and now that that cat is out of the bag, it will continue to be a constant thorn in the NFL's side)

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The main legal question is whether or not the league's broadcasting anti-trust exemption also applies to cable and satellite delivery. I guess the judge must have said it doesn't since the case is going to trial. 

But I'd think satellite dish reception is analogous to antenna reception and might fit in. 

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, ReggieCamp said:

The trial in an antitrust suit filed by fans over the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package for watching out-of-market games that aren’t part of local broadcasts on Sunday afternoons began in a Los Angeles courtroom yesterday, nine years after the case was filed. The suit claims that NFL teams conspired with DirecTV to keep the price high. The NFL argues its broadcasting deals are exempt from antitrust rules under federal law. If a jury agrees that the league’s actions were out of bounds, the NFL could face as much as $21 billion in damages, according to the WSJ.

Yeah that's not how broadcasting deals work. You have signed an exclusive contract but you are still dealing within the realm of the federal government which guarantees at least according to the FCC all major broadcast networks must make their product easily available. Whether DirectTV falls under that since they're re-broadcasting is a good question but I feel like this should be an easy win for the Fans since at the end of the day they're locking publicly available content behind an exclusive paywall.

Edited by Xmad
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