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NFL Gets $4.7 Billion Sunday Ticket Jury Award Tossed Out
- Judge determines verdict was ‘not supported by evidence’
- Ruling is big win for NFL, which faced possible triple damages
A federal judge tossed out a $4.7 billion verdict against the National Football League in a legal fight over pricing of its Sunday Ticket game-broadcast package, after concluding a Los Angeles jury improperly calculated damages.
While evidence could support the jury’s finding of anticompetitive behavior, the conclusion that subscribers should have been paying less to watch games was “clearly not supported by the evidence,” US District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez ruled Thursday. He granted the NFL’s request to dismiss the June damage award, which the league argued was based on inappropriate expert testimony and a “made-up methodology” to calculate damages.