A U.S. district court found the National Football League guilty of violating antitrust laws and ordered it to pay around $4.7 billion in damages.
The verdict was released on Thursday. It states that from 2011 to 2002, around 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in America fell victim to the league's Sunday Ticket scheme.
The fine reached as high as $4.7 billion because the country's federal antitrust laws allow damages to be tripled.
The trial started three weeks ago, and commissioner Roger Goodell and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones were among those who testified.
The NFL's Sunday Ticket Lawsuit was first filed in 2015 but was immediately dismissed.
It was opened again in 2017 when the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated the case.
Judge Philipp Gutierrez said last year that the case could be processed as a class action.
"Justice was done. The verdict upholds protection for the consumers in our class. It was a great day for consumers," plaintiffs attorney Bill Carmody said.
The case is considered monumental, with other leagues also engaging in out-of-market packages to show their games.
It also comes a year after the NFL signed a seven-year deal to put out-of-market games on Google's YouTube TV.
NFL Sunday Ticket and Antitrust laws
The NFL Sunday Ticket is an ongoing program by the league to bring its games closer to households of teams playing in out-of-market games during the regular season.
These games are not accessible on local networks affiliated with the league.
The offering was found to be a hit for many NFL fans. It is available to audiences who do not reside in a team's market, while sports bars also offer a subscription to attract fans of out-of-market teams.
The project was first launched in 1994 and was exclusively distributed by DirecTV & NFLUHD until 2003.
According to the plaintiffs, the NFL violated antitrust laws by selling its Sunday game package at an inflated price. They also decried the league's move to restrict competition by making "Sunday Ticket" available only on a satellite provider.
NFL claims the case was misjudged
The NFL was quick to dismiss the district court ruling, saying they will appeal the verdict.
The company's complete statement through a spokesperson reads:
"We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices, including RedZone, Sunday Ticket, and NFL+, is by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment."
"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial."
If the verdict pushes through, each of the 32 teams will be fined $449.6 million.
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