NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NFL scored a victory worth up to $14.1 billion in court on Thursday when a federal district court judge threw out a jury’s verdict in an antitrust lawsuit that targeted the league’s “Sunday Ticket” online viewing package.

In a 16-page order, U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez in New York took issue with how the jury arrived at its figures of $4.6 billion to residential customers and $97 million to commercial establishments, saying they were “not based on the ‘evidence and reasonable inferences’ but instead were more akin to ‘guesswork or speculation.’”

In antitrust cases, the amounts of the verdict would be tripled.

Gutierrez also faulted testimony from expert witnesses Daniel Rascher and John Zona, who were testifying for the plaintiffs in the class-action case that represents some 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 commercial establishments.

“The Court agrees that Dr. Rascher’s and Dr. Zona’s testimonies based on their flawed methodologies should be excluded. And because there was no other support for the class-wide injury and damages elements of Plaintiffs’ … claims, judgment as a matter of law for the Defendants is appropriate,” the filing said.

“No reasonable jury could have found class-wide injury or damages,” Gutierrez wrote.

The plaintiffs have the option of appealing the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The NFL responded to the judge’s move with a statement: “We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We believe that the NFL’s media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television. We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 NFL season.”

The post NFL: Can’t Spare a Dime? appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.

LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has attended two Taylor Swift concerts with his two daughters and his wife, but chances are, he never thought his status as a “Swiftie” would bleed over into the workplace.

But it has.

Swift has taken the NFL world by storm due to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and Goodell had nothing but good things to say on Monday about the couple’s impact on football.

“Having the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ is also a positive,” Goodell told reporters. “Both Travis and Taylor are wonderful young people, and they seem very happy. She knows great entertainment, and I think that’s why she loves NFL football.

“Obviously, it creates a buzz. It creates another group of young fans, particularly young women, that are interested in seeing why she is going to this game, why she is interested in this game. Besides (her relationship with) Travis, she is a football fan, and I think that’s great for us.”

Kansas City beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 28, leading some fans to believe that the outcome was pre-planned in order to have Swift draw more viewers for the Super Bowl. The 14-time Grammy Award winner is expected to be in attendance when the Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, but Goodell made it clear that he is far from capable of cooking up such a storyline.

“I don’t think I’m that good of a scripter — or anybody on our staff,” Goodell said. “Listen, there is no way I could have scripted that one, let’s put it that way.”

Swift has been spotted at 12 of Kelce’s games this season, with Kansas City coming out on top in nine of them. She first attended the Chiefs’ 41-10 victory over the Chicago Bears back on Sept. 24.

Of course, there has been some backlash from the NFL’s focus on Swift over the past five months, but Goodell is hoping that she sticks around.

“I think anybody in this society, when they’re in a public position, (is) going to be subject to criticism,” Goodell said. “Taylor is obviously a dynamo. Everything she touches, there are people following. So we count ourselves fortunate and we welcome it.”

–Field Level Media

The post Goodell Welcomed Swiftie Effect appeared first on Digital Sports Desk.