Last week, a federal jury concluded that the NFL broke anti-competition laws by pooling teams’ individual media rights and inflating prices of NFL Sunday Ticket between 2011 and 2022. The lawsuit stated that the league broke antitrust regulations by selling the package at an inflated price, while also only offering the package through one provider, with Sunday Ticket formerly being available only from DirecTV.
The $4.7 billion in damages allocates to two groups, which consist of 2.4 million individual customers as well as over 48,000 businesses (such as bars and restaurants that paid for the package). The catch? As with all complex legal matters in the United States, the wheels of justice turn slowly. Though it could be some time before the final adjudication, let’s look at some key takeaways from the court’s ruling.
First, the obvious: This case will be appealed, likely more than once or at least in more than one jurisdiction. In the best of scenarios, the likelihood of another significant update to the case in 2024 is between slim and none. Courts move slowly, and although mainstream media won’t always be honest about it, powerful people and companies have the ability to drag out litigation for YEARS. The most likely outcome is that there won’t be a “final” outcome for a long time, however, it is important to inform sports fans of these rulings.
A major caveat and something I recently discovered is that under federal antitrust (anti-competition) laws, the damages in this type of case can be TRIPLED, leading to the NFL’s total liability in this matter amounting to over $14 billion. THIS is where the Buccaneers (as well as the Jaguars & Dolphins) are more directly affected.
Those damages would be spread evenly amongst the 32 current organizations. This amounts to $441.3 million per team. “Why”, you might ask? In a nutshell, each team authorizes the NFL to market (sell) their television rights to third parties. This assures teams that their fans living somewhere other than the teams’ home city can watch their favorite team on Sundays. This puts them on the hook for part of the damages. It’s a very expensive example of guilt by association.
The Buccaneers owners, the Glazer family, aren’t exactly known for illustrious spending. They aren’t the most penny pinching team in sports, but they are known to be conservative spenders. While this is not an “option” and all teams will have to pay up when final adjudication is reached, it could potentially affect financial decision making in other areas for the team. An argument could be made that owners of NFL teams that aren’t exactly box-office behemoths on a national level might opt to trim spending across the board once payment is ordered.
Hypothetically speaking, it stands to reason that cutting back on spending could affect the product being put out on the field. High level acquisitions or re-signings could suffer, as could the facilities, the wages of staff in those facilities, and a host of other departments the billionaire owners MIGHT decide are less worthy of the maximum possible investment.
If it isn’t obvious, the biggest concern there at large is potential sacrifices to team building and player signings. There are plenty of examples of sports team owners suddenly tightening on field spending as a result of financial obligations off the field. See: The Dallas Cowboys.
However, in the NFL, there is not a rational argument for such cutbacks and I’ll explain why. Your average football fan is a casual fan and most likely doesn’t understand salary cap. The NFL salary cap (the maximum amount NFL teams can pay their entire roster each year) is now a record-high $255.4 million. A quarter of a billion dollars is alot of money, right?
Do you know where the teams get that money every year to pay their players? From the NFL. That’s right, every single year, the league cuts each team a check for their salary cap and not a single dollar comes from the owners’ bank accounts. It’s paid to them in return for committing those same media rights this case is about. There is no justification for a team to change how aggressively they go after talented players (or keep them) on the back of this ruling. Some owners will ABSOLUTELY try to do this, and sports media has to hold them accountable when and IF that happens. It’s VERY important to note that I am not saying the Glazer family will do that in Tampa, but I would definitely pay attention to it. Be vigilant as a fan but be fair.
With all this said, there is still a long road ahead. The case will be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals first and quite possibly the Supreme Court at some point. For the time being; payment of damages, changes to the Sunday Ticket, or how and where the NFL offers it’s Sunday afternoon games will be stayed pending the appeals process.
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