Ninth Circuit Reinstates NFL Sunday Ticket Liability Verdict, Orders New Damages Trial

On October 30, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the judgment that had wiped out a jury’s antitrust verdict against the National Football League in the Sunday Ticket case. The panel ordered the district court to reinstate the jury’s liability finding under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

One detail many headlines miss: the court did not reinstate the $4.7 billion damages award. It upheld the order for a new trial on damages, so the amount the NFL may owe is still undecided. There is no payout, no payment date and no new claim form.

READER ACTION BOX: What Sunday Ticket subscribers should do now

1. Check your eligibility. The classes cover DIRECTV Sunday Ticket purchases from June 17, 2011, through February 7, 2023.
2. Do not file anything new. No claim form or payment process exists after the October 30 ruling.
3. Watch only official channels. Use the official website, NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation, or call 866-848-0814. Ignore any site that offers to “register” you for a payout.
4. Keep your records. Old DIRECTV bills or account statements showing Sunday Ticket purchases may help if a distribution process is announced later.

NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Lawsuit: Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Case	Ninth Inning Inc. v. National Football League, Inc., Ninth Circuit Nos. 24-5493 and 24-5691
Underlying case	In re National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” Antitrust Litigation, No. 2:15-ml-02668-PSG
Courts	U.S. District Court, Central District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Trial judge	District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez
Defendants	NFL, NFL Enterprises, NFL team entities and DIRECTV companies
Laws at issue	Sherman Act Sections 1 and 2
Class period	June 17, 2011, through February 7, 2023
Class size	More than 2.4 million residential subscribers and more than 48,000 businesses
Original jury verdict	June 27, 2024: $4,707,259,944.64
Appeals decision	October 30, 2026: liability verdict reinstated; new damages trial affirmed
Settlement	None established
Claim form	None announced
Official settlement website	nflsundayticketlawsuit.com (administrator phone: 866-848-0814)

What Did the Ninth Circuit Decide in Ninth Inning Inc. v. NFL?

The panel heard oral argument on March 9, 2026, and issued a published opinion on October 30, 2026. It split the case into two questions: whether the NFL is liable, and how much it owes.

1. The Sherman Act liability verdict comes back. Judge Gutierrez had excluded the subscribers’ two economic experts, Dr. Daniel Rascher and Dr. John Zona, then granted the NFL judgment as a matter of law. The Ninth Circuit held that excluding them under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was legal error. Because that exclusion drove the NFL’s win, the court reversed it and ordered the jury’s liability verdict reinstated.

2. The $4.7 billion damages award does not come back. The court agreed with the district judge that the jury’s damages method was flawed. It found the jury compared the residential list price with a lower estimate of what customers actually paid. That measures the discount DIRECTV gave, not the overcharge caused by restricted competition. The method also failed to account for commercial prices that were far higher than residential ones. The order for a new trial on damages stands.

3. Separate rulings on injunctions and class certification. In a concurrently filed memorandum disposition, the court reversed the judgment for the NFL on the Clayton Act Section 16 injunction claims and affirmed certification of the damages classes under Rule 23(b)(3). It sent the injunctive classes back to the district court to decide whether they should stay certified now that the NFL-DIRECTV agreement has expired.

Read the official Ninth Circuit opinion (No. 24-5493).

Why Did DIRECTV Subscribers Sue the NFL Over Sunday Ticket?

Sunday Ticket was a paid package that let fans watch out-of-market NFL games. Subscribers alleged that three connected arrangements restricted competition:

• Pooled rights: The 32 NFL teams pooled their television rights under league control.
• CBS and Fox: The networks produced the Sunday afternoon telecasts and aired a limited number on free, local over-the-air broadcasts.
• DIRECTV: DIRECTV received the out-of-market telecasts and sold them as one bundled package.

Plaintiffs argued this left fans with one expensive option and shut out competing distributors, so both households and businesses paid more than they would have in a competitive market. Commercial subscribers, such as sports bars and restaurants, said the higher price hit their operating costs directly.

The NFL denies wrongdoing. It argues that its distribution model, with all games on free over-the-air television plus paid options such as RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, promotes competition.

The named plaintiffs are Ninth Inning Inc. (doing business as The Mucky Duck), 1465 Third Avenue Restaurant Corp. (doing business as Gael Pub), Robert Gary Lippincott Jr. and Jonathan Frantz. This is a private federal antitrust class action, not a case brought by the U.S. government.

NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit Timeline: From 2015 Filing to the October 30, 2026 Ruling

Date	Development
2015	Subscribers and businesses file the antitrust lawsuit in the Central District of California.
2017	The district court dismisses the case.
August 2019	The Ninth Circuit revives the claims.
November 2020	The U.S. Supreme Court declines to review that earlier ruling.
February 7, 2023	The district court certifies residential and commercial subscriber classes.
October 8, 2023	Deadline to opt out of the damages classes (passed).
June 27, 2024	The jury finds for subscribers and awards about $4.7 billion.
August 2024	Judge Gutierrez sets aside the verdict, grants judgment to the NFL, and orders a new damages trial in the alternative.
March 9, 2026	The Ninth Circuit hears oral argument.
October 30, 2026	The Ninth Circuit reverses the judgment for the NFL, orders the liability verdict reinstated and affirms the new damages trial.

How Much Did the Jury Award Against the NFL, and Could It Be Tripled?

Subscriber group	Original jury damages
Residential subscribers	$4,610,331,671.74
Commercial subscribers	$96,928,272.90
Combined total	$4,707,259,944.64

Under Clayton Act Section 4, successful private antitrust plaintiffs may recover three times proven damages. Tripling the original verdict gives about $14.12 billion. That figure is a mathematical estimate only. The original damages calculation was set aside, and a new jury will set the base amount before any trebling is applied.

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Which Laws Apply to the NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit?

Sherman Act Section 1 (15 U.S.C. § 1). Bars contracts, combinations and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain trade. Plaintiffs challenged the agreements among the NFL, its teams, the networks and DIRECTV. The jury found a violation, and the Ninth Circuit ordered that verdict reinstated. Read 15 U.S.C. § 1.

Sherman Act Section 2 (15 U.S.C. § 2). Covers monopolization, attempted monopolization and conspiracies to monopolize. The jury found liability under this section as well. Read 15 U.S.C. § 2.

Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (15 U.S.C. §§ 1291–1295). Lets professional leagues jointly sell rights to sponsored, free over-the-air telecasts. The Ninth Circuit’s earlier rulings held that it does not shield fee-based cable or satellite deals such as Sunday Ticket. Read 15 U.S.C. § 1291.

Clayton Act Section 4 (15 U.S.C. § 15). Gives injured private plaintiffs the right to threefold damages, costs and reasonable attorney fees. It does not turn an unproven damages figure into an automatic payment. Read 15 U.S.C. § 15.

Clayton Act Section 16 (15 U.S.C. § 26). Allows private parties to seek injunctions against threatened antitrust harm. This is separate from the money claim and is going back to the district court. Read 15 U.S.C. § 26.

Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Governs expert testimony. The Ninth Circuit held that the trial judge overstepped by weighing the experts’ conclusions instead of asking whether their methods and data were reliable enough for a jury. That does not mean the next jury must accept the experts’ opinions. Read FRE 702.

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50(b) and 59. Rule 50(b) let the NFL seek judgment as a matter of law after the verdict, and the district court granted it. Rule 59 covers new trials, which is how the damages retrial was ordered. The Ninth Circuit reversed the Rule 50 judgment but upheld the Rule 59 order. Read Rule 50 and Rule 59.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Governs class actions. The court affirmed certification of the damages classes under Rule 23(b)(3) and sent the Rule 23(b)(2) injunctive classes back for review. Read Rule 23.

Who Qualifies for the NFL Sunday Ticket Class Action?

The certified classes are:

• Residential class: All DIRECTV residential subscribers who purchased NFL Sunday Ticket between June 17, 2011, and February 7, 2023.
• Commercial class: All DIRECTV commercial subscribers (bars, restaurants and other businesses) who purchased Sunday Ticket in the same period.

The classes are nationwide, not limited to California. The official class website lists exclusions, including people or businesses that received Sunday Ticket only for free through promotions, buyers of the NFLST.tv streaming service who were not DIRECTV satellite subscribers, the defendants and related entities, and certain court personnel and jurors.

Sunday Ticket bought through YouTube TV does not qualify on that basis alone, because YouTube’s package began in 2023, after the DIRECTV class period.

Will NFL Sunday Ticket Subscribers Get Paid, and Do They Need to File a Claim?

No payment is available today. Before any class member could receive money, the district court must carry out the Ninth Circuit’s instructions, a new jury must set damages, a judgment must be entered, and any further appeals must run their course. A settlement could also change that path, but none has been announced.

No new claim form has been announced. The opt-out deadline for the damages classes was October 8, 2023. Members who stayed in are generally bound by the outcome. Those who opted out kept the right to sue on their own but will not share in any class recovery. Members of the injunctive classes could not opt out of those classes.

What Happens Next in the NFL Sunday Ticket Case?

1. Reinstatement. The district court must restore the jury’s Sherman Act liability verdict.
2. New damages trial. A new jury will calculate the overcharge using a proper method, treating residential and commercial customers separately. No trial date has been verified as of October 30, 2026.
3. Injunctive claims. The district court will decide whether the injunctive classes remain certified now that the NFL-DIRECTV agreement has expired.
4. Further review. The NFL may ask for rehearing under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 40 or petition the U.S. Supreme Court. Either side may also explore settlement before a second trial.

Why the NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Case Matters Beyond Football

The case tests how far leagues can go in pooling team broadcast rights and bundling them into premium packages. Its outcome could shape how courts view exclusive distribution deals and bundled subscriptions across sports media. For more antitrust coverage, see:

• Google Play $85M Attorney Fee Request Rejected By Judge Donato Says Billing Records Are “Utterly Lacking”
• AAMC ERAS Antitrust Lawsuit, Were You Affected? — Buhrke v. Association of American Medical Colleges
• McDonald’s AI Pricing Lawsuit, Customers Accuse McDonald’s of Algorithmic Price-Fixing

NFL Sunday Ticket Lawsuit FAQ

Did the Ninth Circuit reinstate the $4.7 billion NFL Sunday Ticket verdict?

No. It reinstated the jury’s antitrust liability verdict only. The $4.7 billion damages award stays set aside, and a new trial will determine damages.

Did the NFL lose the Sunday Ticket lawsuit?

The NFL lost the key part of its appeal, because the judgment in its favor was reversed. It did keep the original damages calculation from being restored, so the final amount remains open.

How much could the NFL owe in the Sunday Ticket case?

The original verdict was $4,707,259,944.64, and tripling it gives about $14.12 billion. Neither figure is a final amount owed, and the new damages trial could produce a different result.

Who is eligible for the NFL Sunday Ticket class action?

DIRECTV residential and commercial subscribers who purchased Sunday Ticket between June 17, 2011, and February 7, 2023, subject to the exclusions on the official website.

Can sports bars and restaurants get compensation in the Sunday Ticket lawsuit?

Potentially. Commercial DIRECTV subscribers are in a separate certified commercial class. No amount has been set.

Do I qualify for the NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit if I bought Sunday Ticket through YouTube TV?

Not on that basis alone. The certified classes cover DIRECTV purchases from June 17, 2011, through February 7, 2023. YouTube’s Sunday Ticket began in 2023, after the DIRECTV class period.

When will NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit payments be sent?

There is no confirmed payment date. The new damages trial, any further appeals and a court-approved distribution process must all happen before any money could be paid.

Is there an NFL Sunday Ticket settlement or claim form?

No. No settlement has been verified and no claim form has been announced after the October 30, 2026 ruling.

Why did Judge Gutierrez overturn the original Sunday Ticket verdict?

He excluded the subscribers’ economic experts and concluded that no reasonable jury could have found class-wide injury or damages without them. He also found the jury’s damages method flawed. The Ninth Circuit reversed the expert exclusion but agreed the damages method required a new trial.

Did the Supreme Court decide the Sunday Ticket case?

No. The Supreme Court declined to review an earlier Ninth Circuit ruling in 2020. The October 30, 2026 decision came from the Ninth Circuit, and further review may still be possible.

Sources and Court Documents

1. Ninth Circuit published opinion, filed October 30, 2026, Ninth Inning Inc. v. National Football League, Inc., No. 24-5493
2. Official NFL Sunday Ticket Antitrust Litigation website (administrator)
3. Official class action FAQ
4. Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–2
5. Sports Broadcasting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1291
6. Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15 and 15 U.S.C. § 26
7. Federal Rule of Evidence 702

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice.

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against the Ninth Circuit’s published opinion and the official Notice and settlement website run by the administrator (nflsundayticketlawsuit.com), as of October 30, 2026. Last Updated: October 30, 2026.