NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Class Action
Case Overview
For decades, the NFL has maintained an exclusive licensing arrangement under which out-of-market regular season games were only available to fans through the DirecTV Sunday Ticket package — a premium subscription that cost subscribers upward of $400 per season. Plaintiffs argue that this exclusivity deal, shielded from antitrust scrutiny by the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, was weaponized to artificially restrict the availability of live game broadcasts and force consumers and commercial establishments to pay supracompetitive prices. The case alleges that in a competitive market, out-of-market games would be available across multiple platforms at far lower prices.
In June 2023, a federal jury awarded plaintiffs a staggering $4.7 billion verdict — which under antitrust law's treble damages provision could have reached $14.1 billion — making it one of the largest antitrust jury awards in U.S. history. However, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez vacated the jury verdict in August 2023, finding errors in how damages were calculated and instructed. Plaintiffs appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit, where the case remains active as of 2025. The litigation has taken on renewed relevance as the NFL has expanded Sunday Ticket distribution to YouTube TV and YouTube Primetime Channels, but plaintiffs argue subscribers are still owed compensation for years of inflated pricing.
Who May Qualify
Residential consumers who subscribed to DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package at any time between June 2011 and February 2023, and commercial establishments (bars, restaurants) that paid for commercial Sunday Ticket subscriptions during the same period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit win?
A federal jury awarded plaintiffs $4.7 billion in June 2023, but the verdict was vacated by the trial judge in August 2023 due to a legal error in damages calculation. Plaintiffs appealed, and the case is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, so a final outcome has not yet been reached.
Who is eligible for the NFL Sunday Ticket class action?
Residential DirecTV subscribers who paid for NFL Sunday Ticket between June 2011 and February 2023 are potentially eligible, as are bars, restaurants, and other commercial establishments that paid for commercial Sunday Ticket subscriptions during that period.
Why is NFL Sunday Ticket an antitrust violation?
Plaintiffs argue the NFL's exclusive deal with DirecTV artificially restricted out-of-market game broadcasts to a single distributor, eliminating competition and forcing fans to pay inflated prices. This type of market allocation agreement, they claim, violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.