A verdict recently came down in the "Sunday Ticket" lawsuit in favor of the plaintiffs and against the NFL, which means the Detroit Lions could be left paying a hefty bill.
According to ESPN, a jury of eight has determined that the league broke antitrust laws by selling the subscription service only on DirecTV, and at an inflated price.
Pending appeal, which the league has said it will do, the NFL will pay a whopping $4.8 billion in damages, with $4.7 billion going to the residential class, and another $97 million to the commercial class. But that number has the potential to balloon to a staggering $14.39 billion because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws.
If the $14.39 billion figure stands, it will be spread out across all 32 teams, which amounts to $449.6 million for the Lions and each of the other 31 squads.
"We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. 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 league said.
"We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial."
If the NFL loses its appeal, there will be changes to Sunday Ticket, which is now on YouTube TV. However, those changes won't be made until all appeals are finished.
