The kickoff for the NFL’s Super Bowl in 2024.
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The National Football League has been hit with a roughly $4.7 billion verdict after a jury found that its broadcast model violates antitrust laws.
A Los Angeles jury on Thursday agreed with fans who claimed they overpaid for NFL Sunday Ticket, according to NFL. The decision, which was reached after less than a full day of deliberations, could force the league to change its broadcast model that’s made it the most popular sports league in the country.
The eight-year-old legal battle centered on allegations that the league and its 32 teams conspired in violation of antitrust laws to allow the NFL to reach exclusive deals with broadcast partners for the right to air out-of-market games.
In a statement, an NFL spokesperson said the verdict will be appealed. “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,” the statement continued.