NFL’s $4.7B verdict in Sunday Ticket case tossed out by judge

The National Football League had a $4.7 billion verdict against it tossed out in an antitrust suit over a Sunday Ticket broadcast package.

A federal judge overturned a Los Angeles jury’s verdict from late June, writing that the “jury’s damages were not based on the `evidence and inferences` but instead were more akin to `guesswork and or speculation,'” US District Judge Philip Gutierrez wrote in a court opinion on Thursday.

A class of football-fan plaintiffs had accused the NFL of working with DirecTV in order to raise the price for fans to watch out-of-market games.

“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,” the NFL said in a statement, according to media reports, including Bloomberg.

DirecTV is 70% owned by AT&T (T), but wasn’t a defendant in the trial.

Sunday Ticket was previously available through DirecTV, but before last season moved to YouTube (GOOGL) — which set the 2023 price higher than 2022, while DirecTV retained commercial distribution rights (to bars, restaurants and similar locations).