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The NFL appears to be in the clear when it comes to the $4.7 billion settlement it appears it would have to pay to NFL Sunday Day subscribers after losing a class action suit.
Late last week, U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez threw out the verdict after he determined that jurors ignored his instructions when coming to a decision.
But now the case has taken yet another twist, as Law360 reports that Gutierrez plans to retire in just two months.
Judge In NFL Sunday Ticket Case Retiring After Controversial Ruling
“On October 15, 2024, I intend to retire from regular active service,” Gutierrez wrote in a January letter to President Joe Biden. “It is my intention to continue to render substantial judicial service as a senior judge.”
Despite the jury ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, Gutierrez was harshly critical of both the plaintiffs and jurors in his post-trial filing.
“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,” he said.
The prior verdict would have awarded plaintiffs well in excess of $1,000. But now it appears that they’ll get nothing. And while they could well appeal, it also appears the case is dead in the water.
It also seems a bit ridiculous that the judge can just go “nope” on the entire judicial process. But such is the power of the NFL and the absolute avalanche of money behind it.
The NFL put out the following statement after the initial verdict:
“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict today in the NFL Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all NFL games broadcast on free over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices including RedZone, Sunday Ticket and NFL+, is by far the most fan-friendly distribution model in all of sports and entertainment”
Something tells me they feel a little bit better about things now.