WASHINGTON—The NFL took a loss on Monday, Nov. 2, as the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it would not review an antitrust case that the league is involved in against bars, restaurants and other retail establishments over telecast rights.
The case, National Football League v. Ninth Inning, challenges the league’s practice of teams pooling telecast rights and collectively negotiating a licensing package for out-of-market games. The plaintiffs feel that they are paying “supracompetitive” prices for DirecTV’s SundayTicket to broadcast these games and argue that better terms could be reached if the teams were allowed to compete for individual game streams.
In an earlier decision for the case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court ruled that “Defendants have failed to identify, and we are unaware of, any binding precedent requiring the teams and the NFL to cooperate in order to produce the telecasts.”
If the NFL does not prevail at summary judgement or a trial, they may again petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.
The full story is available from The Hollywood Reporter.
