NFL potentially sticks Indianapolis Colts with stunning $450 million bill

After a jury decided Thursday that the NFL violated federal antitrust laws with the Sunday Ticket service, the result may end up with the Indianapolis Colts splitting the bill.

According to ESPN, a jury ruled Thursday that the league violated anti-trust laws with their process of selling NFL Sunday Ticket.

The jury awarded $4.7 billion in residential class damages and $96 million in commercial class.

However, because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could be liable to pay upwards of $14.39 billion.

While they are set to appeal, the league may have to wind up paying that bill. If they do, that figure will be spread out among all 32 teams.

That means the Colts may be on the hook for a staggering $450 million bill.

The lawsuit stems from DirecTV being the only supplier for out-of-market NFL games from 2011-2022 and that the service was being sold at an inflated price prices were inflated, per ESPN.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the package of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons on DirecTV. The lawsuit claimed the league broke antitrust laws by selling its package of Sunday games at an inflated price. The subscribers also say the league restricted competition by offering “Sunday Ticket” only on a satellite provider.

The NFL is appealing the ruling it said in a statement Thursday.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment.

“We will certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service and for the guidance and oversight from Judge [Philip] Gutierrez throughout the trial.”

NFL fans will want to monitor this situation closely because there could be some major changes coming to the Sunday Ticket service if the league loses its appeal.

For more Colts coverage, check out Kevin Hickey’s work on Sporting News.

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Author(s)

Hickey was previously the managing editor of USA Today’s Colts Wire. His work is also featured as a fantasy football analyst for The Huddle.