ICLE Brief Urges Sound Economic Reasoning in NFL Sunday Ticket Case
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 18, 2025) – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled correctly when it found that a federal jury’s $4.7 billion damages award against the National Football League (NFL) was miscalculated, scholars with the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) argue in an amicus brief submitted to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the In re: NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation case.
The brief cautions the circuit court against judicial interventions that could undermine procompetitive business practices, emphasizing that antitrust remedies must be grounded in proven theories of competitive harm. It emphasizes that the NFL’s exclusive-distribution agreements historically have spurred innovation, pointing to evidence that the arrangements with DirecTV and now YouTube TV have driven technological advancement and investment in content delivery. The plaintiffs’ proposed “à la carte” alternative is fundamentally speculative and should not be the goal of an antitrust case.
ICLE Chief Economist Brian Albrecht offered the following comment on the case:
This case illustrates why courts must demand rigorous economic evidence in antitrust cases before disrupting successful business models. The district court correctly recognized that the plaintiffs’ expert testimony relied on speculation, rather than sound economic analysis, and the jury spun the weak evidence further on its head when awarding a headline-grabbing multi-billion fine. NFL Sunday Ticket’s bundling of games and exclusive-distribution agreements have demonstrably helped viewer access, while spurring decades of innovation in sports delivery. It is imperative that the court’s decision rests on sound economic reasoning to ensure antitrust law genuinely promotes consumer welfare and innovation.
To schedule an interview with Brian, contact Jim Fellinger at [email protected].
For more on this topic from ICLE scholars, read the tl;dr explainer by Ben Sperry “Live Sports, Video Competition, and Antitrust” and the Truth on the Market post by Eric Fruits “The $14 Billion Fumble.”
About ICLE
The International Center for Law & Economics is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center working with a roster of more than one-hundred academic affiliates and research centers from around the globe. ICLE scholars promote the use of law and economics methodologies to inform public policy debates.