The NFL is now facing one of the most significant legal challenges in years to its existing media model, with a trial now starting in Los Angeles threatening to render billions of dollars in damages to the league and upend how it distributes out-of-market games. 

Jury selection began Wednesday in a class action antitrust case nearly a decade in development, advancing on appearances in other courts before ultimately reaching the U.S. District Court. A group of more than 2.4 million residential and 48,000 commercial subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV is asking a jury to find the league liable and award them as much as $7 billion in damages. That figure would then be tripled under federal rules, resulting in potentially a bill reaching $21 billion for the NFL.

The plaintiffs allege the current NFL Sunday Ticket structure artificially drives up prices, and point to costs now starting at $349 per year for the residential packages. If they prevail, NFL teams could be freed to strike their own individual and market-specific out-of-market rights deals, and consumers would likely get the ability to purchase individual games or team-specific packages. The league, conversely, is likely to present NFL Sunday Ticket as a premium-level product expanding consumers’ access to games. 

The case could also result in key figures such as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (above, left), Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Patriots owner Robert Kraft (above, right), and former CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus being called to testify, potentially opening a rare window into the inner workings of how the league develops key business contracts such as this one. 

The case also highlights some of the uniqueness of how the NFL manages its media rights. Some other major leagues have moved to create team-specific options for their out-of-market game packages. But the NFL has not allowed that, and that has continued even as the residential portion of NFL Sunday Ticket has moved to YouTube. The streamer is not a defendant in the lawsuit, and related claims against DirecTV are on hold pending arbitration. 

The YouTube deal is worth $14 billion over seven years, creating a situation that if a significant award is made to the plaintiffs, the economic value of that deal could essentially be negated.

Potentially Messy Situation

One possible scenario, however, is still a last-minute settlement. That’s because the dispute also sets up another test of the NFL’s tolerance for possibly embarrassing public disclosures.

In a trial setting, powerful figures such as commissioners and team owners are no longer in control, and it’s a dynamic the NFL and other major leagues have often sought to avoid, and why they often prefer in-house structures to resolve various disputes and render discipline. 

To that end, the NFL’s $820 million settlement with St. Louis officials over the Rams’ relocation to Los Angeles was struck about six weeks before a scheduled trial there. 

This weekend, 125 of the world’s top golfers will be competing for $45 million in prize money. The problem is they won’t all be playing against one another. 

The PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio and LIV Golf’s Houston event will perfectly showcase the ongoing divide in the men’s professional game—one that was supposed to be headed toward a solution 12 months ago. Thursday marks one year since the PGA Tour and LIV’s financial backer, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, announced a bombshell framework agreement to unify golf.

Merger? What Merger?

Confusion was rampant in the days and weeks following that announcement. Players were stunned by the deal, which no one knew how to properly address. As PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan broke the news on CNBC, a graphic read “LIV Golf to merge with PGA TOUR.” But in the aftermath, the PGA Tour continuously pushed back on any notion of a merger, pointing instead to the complex nature of the framework agreement.

Bumpy Road

In the wake of the PIF deal, following the PGA Tour has been a roller-coaster ride, to say the least. Tour executives were questioned by members of the U.S. Senate. Rory McIlroy quit the Tour policy board (before later trying, unsuccessfully, to rejoin it). Jon Rahm led a wave of more defections to LIV. The PGA Tour and PIF missed a Dec. 31 deadline to reach a definitive agreement. A consortium of sports team owners invested an initial $1.5 billion in the Tour’s operations, with players receiving equity grants in the new company.

What Lies Ahead

As questions mounted about the PGA Tour–PIF deal last summer, it became clear that any meaningful change wouldn’t come until at least 2025, given the need to set ’24 schedules in due time. But now, it appears ’26 is the earliest golf fans should expect PGA Tour and LIV stars back together on a singular circuit.

Burning questions remain around what penalty, if any, LIV players will face in order to return to the PGA Tour; what will become of the LIV tour and its team format; and which executives will ultimately be in charge of the sport’s future.