A federal appeals court has reinstated a jury verdict against the NFL in a long-running antitrust fight over Sunday Ticket pricing, though the league will get a new trial to settle how much it owes. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, ordered the do-over on damages after a lower court judge in California had thrown out the original verdict, which found the league liable for overcharging subscribers to its out-of-market football broadcasts for more than a decade.
According to the San Luis Obispo Tribune, which relied on Reuters reporting by Mike Scarcella, the appeals court's decision reinstates the jury's underlying antitrust verdict while allowing the NFL a new trial specifically on damages. That verdict traces back to a Los Angeles jury that in June 2024 determined the NFL had violated antitrust laws, awarding plaintiffs $4.7 billion in damages, as reported by Sports Business Journal. The lawsuit accused the NFL and its business partners of illegally fixing prices for Sunday Ticket from 2011 to 2022, per the same outlet.
How the Verdict Unraveled in the First Place
The jury's finding didn't stand for long. U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez vacated the verdict on August 1, 2024, ruling that the plaintiffs' expert testimony relied on flawed economic methodologies, an analysis from NYU's Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law explains. Sports Business Journal reported that Gutierrez determined the testimony from economist Daniel Rascher and another expert was so fundamentally flawed that it couldn't support the jury's award. The plaintiffs then appealed that reversal to the Ninth Circuit, arguing the judge erred in excluding their experts' analysis.
The underlying class is sizable: the NYU analysis describes a group of 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 commercial users, such as bars and restaurants, who purchased Sunday Ticket between 2011 and 2023. The jury had concluded that the NFL violated antitrust law by having its 32 teams pool their broadcasting rights and then using that arrangement to drive up prices, according to a March 2026 report from Sportico covering oral arguments before a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel. That panel signaled during questioning that it might reverse Gutierrez's 2024 decision, with the dispute centering on whether the judge acted within his discretion when he threw out the jury's verdict.
Conflicting Figures on Damages and Potential Trebling
Exactly how the original jury broke down its award depends on which account you read. Sports Business Journal reported the total figure as a single $4.7 billion award, while Sportico described it as $4.6 billion for residential subscribers plus $97 million for commercial establishments, and the NYU analysis put the split at $4.7 billion for the residential class and $96 million for the commercial class. The potential trebled damages, which antitrust law allows courts to impose, were similarly reported inconsistently — Sports Business Journal cited a figure of $14.1 billion if the award were enforced and tripled, while the NYU analysis estimated roughly $14.39 billion.
The case has also drawn attention from federal regulators. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief on January 17, 2025, urging the Ninth Circuit to correct what it described as an error in the lower court's ruling, according to the filing. The brief noted the case was on appeal for a second time and pointed out that the Ninth Circuit had previously held that the plaintiffs' complaint stated valid claims under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.
What Happens Next for Sunday Ticket
Even as the legal fight dragged on, the NFL shifted Sunday Ticket's distribution away from DirecTV to YouTube TV, per the NYU analysis. The package currently costs $378 or less depending on available discounts, Sportico reported. With the Ninth Circuit's reinstatement of the verdict and order for a new damages trial, the long-running case now heads back toward a fresh reckoning over just how much the NFL may owe millions of Sunday Ticket subscribers.
