Less than three weeks ago, a jury entered a $4.7 billion antitrust verdict against the NFL. If/when it becomes a formal judgment, it will triple to more than $14 billion.
Each team would then have to come up with more than $440 million. (As previously explained, some might have a hard time doing that.)
During an annual earnings call on Tuesday, Packers CEO Mark Murphy was asked whether the league had given the teams any advice on how to prepare to pay the price, if/when that day arrives.
“No,” Murphy said, via Daniel Kaplan in an item for AwfulAnnouncing.com. “All the indications are that we will appeal. It’s really up to each team to figure out whether they need to set up a separate fund. The league will vigorously defend.”
It’s a given that the league will vigorously defend. They vigorously defend everything, regardless of merit. They’re always right, and anyone challenging them in court is always wrong. (As major American businesses go, the NFL is hardly unique in this respect.)
That said, their vigorous defense could still result in a win in the Sunday Ticket case, through post-judgment motions or on appeal. It still won’t change the fact (not allegation, but fact as determined by the jury) that the NFL deliberately overpriced Sunday Ticket in order to keep fans from buying it, so that they’d choose to watch the games given to their local markets via CBS and Fox affiliates.
We’re wondering when that reality will sink in on a widespread basis. The Sunday Ticket price tag became a litmus test of true fandom. And the prize was to pay way too much for something that could have been, and should have been, made available for a much lower amount.
