When the US Supreme Court decided Alston case In June 2021, the NCAA was quick to limit potential liability arising from its longstanding ban on athletes making money from names, images and likenesses by opening the floodgates to rescission after just 10 days. This was smart, because the Alston case (and especially Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion) made clear that many NCAA rules violate antitrust laws.
The NFL may have to make similar decisions, following Thursday’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket case.
The class action does not cover the 2023 season (on YouTube TV), the 2024 season, or any future seasons. There is already a new class action lawsuit hiding in plain sight regarding Sunday Ticket pricing on YouTube TV in 2023. It will also apply to 2024, absent a significant change to current pricing.
For the NFL, a major decision must be made immediately. Will the league change the Sunday ticket in response to the ruling, or will the league allow it to go through the appeals process — knowing that an eventual loss would result in several more years of potential liability?
Ideally, the league would recognize that its approach to Sunday tickets, regardless of whether or not it violates antitrust laws, disrespects consumers by forcing them to pay exorbitant sums for the games they want to watch. Even if the league does not have to pay a dime after Thursday’s ruling, the league’s greed, manipulation, and refusal to allow fans to watch any game they want to watch at reasonable prices has been exposed.
They can claim that they are committed to choosing. The fact is that they have historically made choice so expensive that they knew many fans would choose to stick with games available on local CBS or Fox affiliate channels, even if they would rather watch another game.
All fans must hope that the League will view yesterday’s ruling as a wake-up call, prompting the League to decide to make all matches available to all fans, without imposing additional fees aimed at making most settle for what they can get rather than what they really want.
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