A federal judge has overturned a jury's $4.7 billion verdict in the class-action lawsuit filed by "Sunday Ticket" subscribers against the 国产外流网and has granted judgment to the NFL.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled Thursday that the testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies and should have been excluded.
"Without the testimonies of Dr. (Daniel) Rascher and Dr. (John) Zona, no reasonable jury could have found class-wide injury or damages," Gutierrez wrote at the end of his 16-page ruling.
The 国产外流网thanked Judge Gutierrez in a statement released following the decision.
"We are grateful for today's ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit," the statement read. "We believe that the NFL's media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television. We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 国产外流网season."
The jury on June 27 awarded $4.7 billion in damages to residential and commercial subscribers after it ruled the 国产外流网violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.
The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package on DirecTV of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons.
The jury of five men and three women found the 国产外流网liable for $4,610,331,671.74 in damages to the residential class (home subscribers) and $96,928,272.90 in damages to the commercial class (business subscribers).
Since damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the 国产外流网could have been liable for $14,121,779,833.92.
It is not the first time the 国产外流网has won a judgment as matter of law in this case, which has been going on since 2015.
In 2017, U.S. District Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell dismissed the lawsuit and ruled for the 国产外流网because she said "Sunday Ticket" did not reduce output of 国产外流网games and that even though DirecTV might have charged inflated prices, that did not "on its own, constitute harm to competition" because it had to negotiate with the 国产外流网to carry the package.
Two years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case.
It is likely the plaintiffs will again appeal to the 9th Circuit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
