NFL Faces Renewed Ant-Trust Challenge On Pay-TV Package

What would the television market look like if the NFL couldn’t pool all of the league’s out-of-market games and sell them as a package? The question will be moving forward in court after a decision yesterday in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

An anti-trust challenge by subscribers of DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket package was dismissed by a federal judge two years ago, when a judge rejected the proposition that restraining broadcasts of out-of-market games resulted in less output and higher prices.

On Tuesday, 9th Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta delivered a majority decision reversing the dismissal.

The decision comes as DirecTV’s deal with the NFL for Sunday Ticket draws to a close.

Read the Hollywood Reporter’s coverage of this complex case here.