“NFL Sunday Ticket” is under scrutiny and facing a lawsuit. That lawsuit should not hold up.
NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit Shouldn’t Hold Up in Court
In 1961, the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard a case: United States vs. National Football League. The case was to determine whether or not the NFL’s rights deal with CBS was a violation of antitrust laws.
After hearing the arguments, the district court judge named Grim came down with a ruling. The contract between CBS and the NFL was a violation of antitrust laws, because CBS can restrict the area of the country in which the games are televised.
Clearly this provision restricts the individual clubs from determining “the areas within which * * * telecasts of games * * * may be made * * *,” since defendants have by their contract given to CBS the power to determine which games shall be telecast and where the games shall be televised. I am therefore obliged to construe the Final Judgment as prohibiting the execution and performance of the contract dated April 24, 1961, between the National Football League and the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Now, the NFL faces a new lawsuit over “NFL Sunday Ticket”. However, this one should not get very far.
The class-action suit, which alleges that the NFL violated antitrust law and harmed consumers through the sale of its exclusive “Sunday Ticket” telecast package of games, is a direct challenge to the league’s lucrative media rights deals. https://t.co/DQ3Ikd9LD5
— Dave Agar (@dave1agar) June 6, 2024
The lawsuit alleges that due to the NFL’s contracts with FOX and CBS, harm was done to the fans. It alleges that fans who don’t live in the broadcasting area of their favorite team now have to pay for games they don’t want to watch just to get the ones they do.
On the surface, that sounds reasonable. Technically they do. Since “NFL Sunday Ticket” has all NFL games available, there’s truth to that argument.
Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961
That being said, this argument falls flat. That is because it was handled by US Code 15, Chapter 32: Telecasting of Professional Sports Contests. This has come to be known as the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. This law exempts professional sports television rights deals from antitrust. Section 1291 clearly states that.
In addition to excluding professional sports from antitrust, with regard to television rights deals, rules are explicitly laid out for football. NFL games that are played within 75 miles of a high school or college football game, may not be broadcast using contracts. This runs from 6:00 PM on the second Friday in September through the second Saturday in December.
That is why we don’t see Saturday games until later in the NFL season.
NFL Sunday Ticket
“NFL Sunday Ticket” is essentially just a re-broadcasting tool for the NFL. It packages all the games on a particular Sunday together, and that seems to be the crux of the argument. However, the NFL does have the right to rebroadcast its own games. They could also charge fans of out-of-market teams on a pay-per-view basis.
In other words, the NFL is within its legal right to contract with networks for league-wide television rights. Additionally, “NFL Sunday Ticket” is just a mechanism in which fans can see their team if they don’t live in the broadcasting area.
There’s no undue harm to the consumer, because the NFL would charge them, regardless, and the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 covers the antitrust part with the networks. So, essentially, there’s no leg to stand on in this case.
Main Image: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
