American football is huge, and for the National Football League (NFL), that’s good news. However, if you’re a fan, you’ve likely begun to see a rather disturbing trend in how those games are watched.
Well, thanks to a $6.1 billion lawsuit, that could all change.
If you’ve noticed, most NFL games are aired on big-name television markets. You know, networks like CBS, ABC, FOX, NBC, etc., and most of us can get at least one, if not all of those networks, making watching our favorite teams play not too difficult.
However, as you know, not all of the games are accessible to all viewers, even if you have those networks.
And so, the NFL offers their “NFL Sunday Ticket.” It’s a streaming service, basically, through another TV provider, allowing consumers to pay a subscription, giving them access to all games all the time.
It seems like a good idea for big football fans, despite the $399 it costs to watch the 2023 season.
However, there is a problem with the service. It’s only available on one TV provider, creating what the lawsuit has claimed is a monopoly – and that’s illegal.
As Deadline reports, from 2011 to 2022, DirecTV alone had the rights to “NFL Sunday Ticket.” So only DirecTV subscribers could get “Sunday Ticket.”
Now, those rights have been handed over to YouTube. But the idea is still the same.
As the lawsuit claims, this is a violation of the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which bars companies from holding a monopoly or engaging in monopolistic practices.
As of Thursday, a federal district judge has ruled that the lawsuit is “triable” and therefore is going to trial. The current jury trial date is set for February 22.
On that date, the NFL and DirecTV will have to attempt to prove that they don’t hold a monopoly on watching football games. And the outcome could forever change how football in America is watched.
