How the Sunday Ticket lawsuit could actually make the Cowboys even richer
The NFL was ordered to pay $4 billion in the Sunday Ticket lawsuit, and though each team would pay millions, it could leave one team richer in the long run.
For NFL fans who don’t live in the market where their favorite team is broadcast, they are left with few options. The NFL’s solution to that problem used to be the Sunday Ticket. The problem for the fans is that rather than being allowed to pay for just the teams/games they wanted, they were forced to purchase the entire thing, which is quite expensive. That left many fans deciding to just give up and only watch the games in their market. And that led to a lawsuit against the NFL. Yes, it escalated.
On Thursday, the NFL lost that trial and was ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages to fans, which could be tripled to more than $14 billion due to federal antitrust laws. Of course, the league plans to contest the verdict. But if it holds, it would leave all 32 NFL teams to pay the cost - about $437 million per team, at least.
A jury in a U.S. District Court ordered the NFL to pay nearly $4.8 billion to subscribers for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service.https://t.co/TSQjG0FgnB pic.twitter.com/rywJfK6uR8
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) June 28, 2024
Why the Cowboys could benefit from the Sunday Ticket verdict
One team, however, could cash in in the long run when all is said and done, and that is the $9.2 billion Dallas franchise, the Cowboys. Owner Jerry Jones was one of the people called to testify in the court case and even he himself said that it’s “flawed” to have each individual team do their own television deals because he is “convinced I would make a lot more money than the Bengals”.
He’s right, and the Bengals aren’t the only team the Cowboys would out-earn. If the Sunday Ticket makes a change that allows fans to choose a team-specific package, the Cowboys are likely to end up earning even more than they already do in broadcast premiums. They currently dominate in television audiences and have for several years.
With the opportunity to offer a Cowboys-specific game package, Jerry Jones stands to make even more money and the franchise stands to become the richest by an even larger margin.
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