In their suit, the subscribers claim that DirecTV can charge higher prices because it doesn’t have competition for airing football broadcasts. They have also argued that, without the deal with the NFL to sell rights collectively, each football team would be motivated to distribute its games nationally via cable, satellite, or internet channels at competitive prices.
An initial bid to throw out the case came to a head in 2020, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision that revived the suit. In 2021, Judge Gutierrez moved the claims against DirecTV into arbitration, but the case against the NFL remained in court. The subscribers won class certification in early 2023.
In the class certification ruling, Judge Gutierrez cast some doubt on the NFL’s assertions that it is not flouting antitrust laws, and did so again in January when he denied the NFL’s request for summary judgment on the subscribers’ Sherman Act claims, ruling both Section 1 and Section 2 allegations would proceed toward trial.
