The NFL will not be going in front of the highest court in the land. On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it will not hear arguments in National Football League vs. Ninth Inning according to the Hollywood Reporter. The lawsuit challenges how teams pool and sell out of market television rights.
Bars, restaurants, and other establishments filed the suit alleging that they are forced to pay unfair prices for DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package in order to have access to out of market games. The league has eliminated any competition either for itself or amongst its teams that could set a more realistic market.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived the case last year and it did not go well for the league. The court wrote “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.”
In response, the NFL petitioned to have the case heard by the US Supreme Court. The case is now likely to go to trial at the Circuit Court level.
Despite the fact that the US Supreme Court will not hear the case, Justice Kavanaugh did write a statement that seemed to back the NFL in its argument that in creating a way for fans and businesses to access every game on the schedule, it has created a competitive and fair system.
“In sum, the defendants—the NFL, its teams, and DirecTV—have substantial arguments on the law,” Kavanaugh wrote. “If the defendants do not prevail at summary judgment or at trial, they may raise those legal arguments again in a new petition for certiorari, as appropriate.”
