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Sunday Ticket Lawsuit

    • Case could have implications in the next round of NFL media rights.
    • This article was first published in the FOS Daily Newsletter. Subscribe here.
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The Supreme Court has declined to review an appeal by the NFL and DirecTV to have an antitrust case regarding their Sunday Ticket package thrown out. Sunday Ticket — available only through DirecTV — is the sole option to watch all the NFL Sunday games outside of the few free over-the-air broadcasts each week.

Subscribers of the service can now move forward with a lawsuit that alleges consumers could have access to more NFL broadcasts at a lower cost without the exclusive partnership. The NFL alleges the deal has been beneficial to viewers as it allows for increased broadcasts. 

A judge threw out the case in 2017, but it was revived last year by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The DirecTV partnership is set to expire after the 2022 regular season.

Sunday Ticket Details: 

  • DirecTV and NFL have been exclusive partners since 1994.
  • There are approximately 2 million Sunday Ticket subscribers.
  • DirecTV pays an average annual rights fee of $1.5 billion.

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